Coma no more
by teeney8040
Summary: Faith awakens from her coma a little earlier than expected, but someone is waiting who will change everything
1. Good to be me

Disclaimer: Not mine  
  
Summary: Faith wakes from her coma after only six months to find she isn't  
alone. Who's waiting for her to wake up and how does it change everything?  
  
Pairings...will be a secret for now.  
  
A.N. This takes place in season 4. I keep thinking about the stuff Buffy  
said about Faith before they saw each other for the first time again on  
campus. Buffy was hopeful that Faith had changed, so this is sort of a re-  
write of some of the season. We're gonna pretend that Buffy and Faith are  
both twenty or so. I know Faith is younger than B, but I'm gonna guess just  
a few months younger. Just pretend for the sake of the story. I know you  
can do it. Bare with me if the time frame is a bit screwed up, I wanted  
this to take place in early January. Oh, and don't get all freaked out  
with the whole bar thing...its just Faith being Faith.  
  
Her skin looked almost pasty under the fluorescent lights in the room. It  
used to be flushed and full of color. She had a pretty decent tan back  
then. Bones protruded glaringly in places like the top of her shoulders  
and her hips. Sure, she could just be thin, but this was unhealthy. The  
bags under her eyes made her look tired...like she hadn't slept in months,  
but the opposite was true...she'd been sleeping for months. That's the funny  
thing about a coma. Some argue that it's a prolonged form of rest, while  
others say it's extremely exhausting. Either way, when you're in a coma  
for six months, it really can't be good for you.  
  
The tall, gray haired man sat next to the bed of the small slayer. He  
watched as she inhaled and exhaled every breath. He shifted uncomfortably  
in his overheated tweet suit. His steel blue eyes never once left the girl  
lying there. The slayer. The Rouge Slayer. He had begged and pleaded  
with his fellow Council members to allow him one more chance with the girl.  
After days of pleading with the highest members, he finally got his  
request. As a member of the council he had connections with many people,  
demons and other mystical beings that 99% of the time played for the good  
guys. They all had their slip-ups. The slayer in front of him was a prime  
example. Although she seemed to play for the good guys roughly 70% of the  
time...if he was feeling generous. But that's beside the point. A very  
powerful visionary sent him here to Sunnydale for this week in particular.  
She would be waking up in a few hours and he wanted to make sure that he  
said all the right things to make her see things his way. So he sat...going  
over his little speech a hundred times until he heard her stir. He watched  
her pulse rate increase on the tiny monitor beside the bed and he stood.  
He made sure that he stood between her and the doorway...he couldn't let her  
get away. Not this time. He watched as her eyes shot open and took in  
their surroundings. She sat up and began pulling tubes out of her arms and  
sticky pads off her chest. Suddenly she turned her head and saw him.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"I'm here to help."  
  
Faith snorted in disgust. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and  
gingerly set foot on the floor. After a moment, she stood on shaky legs.  
He watched as her eyes traveled from his face down to his shoes and back up  
again.  
  
"You a watcher?"  
  
"I was...now I'm regular Council."  
  
Faith stood unmoving as she searched his face for truth.  
  
_That stupid Post bitch!_ She thought.  
  
"You evil?"  
  
A small smile tugged on the corners of his lips.  
  
"No...I'm not like her Faith." As if hearing her thoughts suddenly.  
  
"So what do you want then?"  
  
"I told you I want to help."  
  
She eyes him suspiciously.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because I think you deserve one more chance. I had to beg and plead with  
the Council to have them allow me to come to you with this proposition."  
  
Faith's eyes narrowed at the last word and began walking for the door.  
  
"Sorry to waste your time Council boy, but I have some unfinished business  
to take care of."  
  
He quickly stood in her way and looked down to her.  
  
"If you go to her now, you'll wind up dead, there won't be a coma this  
time."  
  
Her head shot up and she glared as she met his gaze.  
  
"Yeah, what do you know about it."  
  
"Faith, please stop for a moment. All I ask is that you listen to me for a  
few minutes. If you walk out of this room without me, you won't get to  
Buffy, there are more council outside the door. If we don't come to an  
agreement here, they are going to take you to England for 'rehabilitation',  
Council style."  
  
She held his gaze for a moment longer and rolled her eyes and huffed back  
to the bed. Faith sat back up on the bed and looked at him expectantly.  
  
"Slayers are meant to have watchers, Faith. One slayer, one watcher. Not  
two for one. It was never meant to be that way. It was a freak occurrence  
anyways having two slayers at the same time and I suppose the council  
wanted to see how the two of you would work together. I also know that  
Alan Finch was an accident. I've spoken with Rupert Giles and Buffy  
Summers about the incident and the events that transpired afterwards and  
they both take partial responsibility for everything that happened after  
that night. Buffy went so far as to file an official report with the  
Council stating that it was truly an accident."  
  
Faith was sitting quietly staring at her hands.  
  
"If you had had a true watcher at the time...a watcher all your own, I  
believe that things would have been completely different. Regardless,  
slayers are not meant to live in confinement...they do have animal instincts  
that give them the ability to hunt and to fight. If you escape us and  
enter back into society without the Council's support you will go to jail.  
If you decide to turn down my proposition, you will be forced back to  
England and be rehabilitated, which I can assure you is pretty much the  
equivalent of prison. I should know, I went there myself."  
  
Her eyes darted up at this and she stared at him for a moment before  
raising her eyebrows slightly. She did, however, remain silent.  
  
"I am here to give you one last chance at a life that doesn't include  
confinement."  
  
"So you're gonna fix me up and let me be a slayer again?"  
  
He took a deep breath knowing he had her dangling by a thread...he just had  
to reel her in...and hope she hung on.  
  
"Not...exactly."  
  
Her eyes narrowed slightly.  
  
"So what's the deal?"  
  
"We want you...to be a watcher."  
  
Faith stood in stunned silence staring at him with her mouth slightly gaped  
open.  
  
"A watcher? Are you kidding me?"  
  
"Just hear me out Faith...this is no joke."  
  
"Well, believe me when I say that you now have my undivided attention.  
This should be a good one."  
  
First she smirked, then rolled her eyes then seeing that he still had his  
resolve face on, she sighed loudly and waved her arms around to say 'okay,  
get on with it'.  
  
"I am a firm believer that responsibility makes a person stronger. It's  
often been wondered by myself, other Council members and other watchers how  
it is that Buffy Summers has survived as long as she has. It's simple  
really. She's responsible-"  
  
Faith interrupted him as she groaned loudly and rolled her eyes, glaring at  
him.  
  
"I mean, if you'll let me finish, she's responsible for lives other than  
her own. Slayers before her didn't give a damn about anyone but  
themselves. They never had reason to. They were purposely alienated from  
family and friends so they would focus on their calling. Rupert Giles  
never did that to her. But it has proven to be successful. I think to  
make you responsible for another human life will do nothing but help you."  
  
"So what you're telling me is that I'm gonna play watcher to some kid who's  
destiny will only come into play if I die?"  
  
"Well...now, that's the other thing."  
  
"What is?" Her eyes narrowed again.  
  
"You sort of already died."  
  
"I sort of already died? Watcher in ghost form?"  
  
Her face showed utter confusion as she began looking around and pinching  
herself.  
  
"No, not ghost, you sort of pulled a Buffy Summers on us."  
  
"I died and came back!?!"  
  
He nodded slowly.  
  
"About a month ago."  
  
Faith let out a disbelieving laugh.  
  
"Well, I gotta admit, its nice not having that pressure on me anymore. At  
least now I know if I screw up you won't try to kill me to have a more  
'obedient' slayer called. So who is she?"  
  
He pulled a file out of the bag he had on the floor and handed it to her.  
She took it and flipped it open. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the  
picture paper clipped inside. A gorgeous blonde was smiling back at her.  
She had the bluest eyes Faith had ever seen. A dimple graced her left  
cheek. Faith thought she almost looked like a blonde, blue eyed Jennifer  
Garner. Gorgeous.  
  
"Damn blonde's, you guys have a thing for them don't ya? It's always  
blondes."  
  
"That's Clarke Teggart. She is eighteen and living in Boston at the  
moment. She's a senior in high school, due to graduate in four months."  
  
"Clarke...freakin' goofy-assed name for a girl. Guess ya gotta have a weird  
one to be a slayer. I think Kendra was the most normal...but then again, she  
bit it pretty quick."  
  
He raised an eyebrow as she mumbled to herself flipping quickly through the  
file.  
  
"Alright, so what's the deal if I say yes?"  
  
"Well, you will go to Boston, there's really no reason for her to come  
here. Miss Summers and her friends seem to have the Hellmouth under  
control for the time being. I don't expect any changes in that sense. The  
council has an apartment waiting for you and a car. You will have a job  
under the council at the school for the time being. Once Clarke graduates,  
you can find something more appropriate if you desire. If you decide to  
help us, you will stay in a hotel tonight and fly to Boston tomorrow  
morning at ten."  
  
Faith took a final look at the file and took a deep breath. She exhaled  
slowly and nodded.  
  
"Where do I sign?"  
  
He smiled at the girl and handed her a bag of clothes.  
  
"Here, get dressed, I'll wait right outside and walk you to the car."  
  
"Car?"  
  
"Someone to drive you to the hotel tonight and tomorrow to the airport."  
  
"Nice."  
  
He turned to leave the room but turned back briefly.  
  
"Oh, and by the way...your criminal record? It is, as of this moment, wiped  
clean."  
  
Faith felt the faintest whisper of a smile grace her features as he left  
and shut the door.  
  
"Here goes nothin'."  
  
Faith dug through the bag of clothes and quickly picked out her typical  
black leathers and a tight yellow tee. She almost moaned in pleasure at  
the scent and feel of the tight pants. She noticed the clothes hung a  
little loose and grinned at the thought of a monster pizza. She pulled  
socks and her boots on and slung the bag over her shoulder. She pulled the  
door open. Council boy turned as she walked out of the room. He held his  
hand to his side towards the exit.  
  
"After you."  
  
She smirked and rolled her eyes at him, but headed for the door.  
  
"What's your name anyways?"  
  
"Evan O'Neil."  
  
"Alright O, let's get goin'."  
  
As the two pushed the doors open, Faith was hit with a chilly blast of air  
and shivered slightly. She dug through the bag, locating a hoodie and  
wrapped it around herself.  
  
"What month is it?"  
  
"It's Wednesday, January 4th. You won't be short of snow in Boston."  
  
Faith grinned.  
  
"Oh, man I have missed the snow. Gotta admit, this Cali weather is great,  
but nothing beats the snowfalls in Boston."  
  
They chatted a bit as they jumped in the car and headed for the hotel.  
They pulled up in front of a Holiday Inn thirty minutes later.  
  
"In the file I gave you is the name of the principal of the school Clarke  
attends, he's council as well, so he knows what's going on. He shouldn't  
give you a hard time. His name is Sean Adams. You have an appointment  
with him Friday at one. At the apartment, you'll find some paperwork and  
identification."  
  
He handed her a key ring. "Car keys and apartment keys, you will have a  
ride home from the airport. The car is at the apartment. We set up a  
checking and savings account for you. You will find an acceptable amount  
in there to add to this." He handed her a very thick envelope. "This kid  
is on her own, so she may need a few things."  
  
"Sweet deal...glad I said yes." She grinned.  
  
"Make me proud kid." He knocked a light punch at her shoulder smiling at  
her.  
  
"I'll do my best."  
  
"Here's my number, your cell is at the house as well. Call me if ya have  
any problems, the room's on us, so do me a favor and eat...a lot."  
  
"Thanks a bunch O, see ya around."  
  
"See ya kid."  
  
Faith grinned once more at him and walked in the lobby of the hotel. Once  
she was settled she ordered food. She ordered a pizza, some fries, cake,  
ice cream, a few burgers, cookies...pretty much one of everything on the  
menu. Once her food arrived, she stuffed her face and nearly collapsed  
when she finished. She decided to take a bath so she ran the water and  
added some bubbles she found under the sink. After her bath, she flipped  
the T.V. on and found some cartoons. She made arrangements for a wake-up  
call and dozed off early with her cartoons still dancing on the screen.  
  
Faith woke up to the blaring of the phone. She reached for it blindly and  
knocked the whole phone off the nightstand as she fumbled around. She  
could hear the recorded message as she lifted the receiver to her ear.  
Faith jumped out of bed rather enthusiastically as she replaced the phone.  
She had a quick shower and got dressed. The car picked her up at 8 sharp  
and she jumped inside with her bag. Faith found herself smiling as they  
arrived at the airport and checked-in. She had a huge grin plastered to  
her face as she boarded the plane.  
  
Eight long hours later, Faith walked off the plane in Boston. She saw a  
guy holding a sign for her and allowed him to take her bag and lead her to  
the car. She sat quietly in the backseat and watched the familiar scenery  
pass her by. She grew more excited as she realized they were headed into  
downtown. The nice part of downtown. They passed the college district and  
pulled to a stop in front of a five-story building close to the heart of  
downtown. The driver got out and held her door open for her.  
  
"This is it?" She asked him pointing at the building.  
  
"Yes ma'am. Fifth floor."  
  
"Thanks." She smiled and handed him a tip. Faith raised an eyebrow as she  
had to use the key just to unlock the front door of the building. She  
wasn't used to this. She flung the door open and headed for the elevator.  
When she reached the floor she stepped out and looked up and down the hall.  
There was only one door. She shrugged and tried the key. Faith grinned  
as the lock clicked open and pushed the door open. She stood astounded as  
she took the sight in. This place was almost twice the size of the place  
the mayor gave her and twice as nice...and the place the mayor gave her was  
sweet. She walked down three steps into the open living room that  
stretched before her. Back to the left behind the couch was the kitchen  
with a bathroom to the left of it. Straight ahead was a huge wall of  
nothing but books. Above the book shelves was a loft. It stretched the  
length of the wall she was facing. It stuck out about fifteen feet towards  
her; there was a bathroom upstairs as well. The ceilings where 20 feet up.  
There was a small dining room to the right and what appeared to be a  
training area. There was a rack of weapons, a few sparring dummies and a  
punching bag. She grinned as she ran a finger over the top of the giant  
T.V. on her right as she walked in. She wandered further into the house  
and saw a stack of papers on the bar between the kitchen and living room.  
Faith stuck her tongue out at the paperwork and decided to check out her  
electronics. She pulled the doors open on the cabinet next to the TV. and  
almost drooled at the DVD's and cd's inside. She reached for a cd and  
placed it in the player under the TV. that doubled as a DVD player. Faith  
grabbed the remote and pushed play. Her eyes rolled back in her head and  
she grinned from ear to ear as the music came flowing from the surround  
sound speakers in the room. Faith opened her eyes and looked around the  
apartment. She brought her right hand to her left forearm and pinched it  
roughly.  
  
"Nope, not dreaming. Damn, for once its good to be me."  
  
Faith spent the afternoon playing in the apartment. She showered and  
changed into her fun clothes once the sun went down. She grabbed her  
jacket and toboggan and decided to hit the streets. Thursday night in  
downtown Boston made Sunnydale's best days look like a kiddie park. She  
walked past a few sports bars that were broadcasting the Bruins games and  
laughed, as the place would erupt as a goal was scored. Faith inhaled the  
cold night air and grinned as she approached her destination. Roxy. She  
used to come here and dance the night away. They always played the best  
techno in town, they never carded her...at 15, kinda sad actually...and there  
were always hot guys around to take care of her. Hot gay guys and hot gay  
girls. She loved this club. Faith made it into the club and checked her  
coat and headed to the bar. She grabbed the beer the bartender handed her  
and stood for a moment taking in the crowd. It was still relatively early,  
but the place was packed already. After she finished her drink she headed  
to the dance floor. The pulsating beats and glaring synthesizer sounds had  
her in a trance as soon as she hit the floor. She danced for two hours  
ignoring every person that tried to dance with her. This was her time.  
She hit the bar for two shots and another beer as somebody caught her eye  
walking through the door. _Clarke_.  
  
"What the hell is she doing here?"  
  
Faith downed her shots and chugged half her beer before leaving the bar to  
watch the girl who was headed towards the dance floor. Faith almost  
drooled as she took in the sight of the shapely slayer. The girl was  
dressed in dark hip hugging jeans that settled just below her hipbones.  
Her long hair was pulled up in a messy knot at the back of her head and  
long strands escaped the grasp of the constricting item holding the blonde  
locks back. A few carefully pulled strands of hair framed her stunning  
face. She wore a bright red halter-like top that was totally strappy and  
close to backless. She looked amazing. Faith leaned against a pillar and  
watched the younger girl. She could dance, Faith had to give her that.  
She drew the attention of every girl in the club. Faith watched as Clarke  
practically ignored everyone but a couple of guys dancing together.  
  
_Yummy, I'd pay attention to them too_.  
  
The three seemed to be talking and laughing as Faith decided to have some  
fun. She gripped the beer bottle in her left hand as she made her way to  
the floor. She found a spot that was in Clarke's line of sight and began  
dancing like only she could. This time, she didn't ignore the people that  
hung around hoping to dance with the dark beauty. Faith felt the weight of  
a stare and she struggled not to look up. She knew she had gotten the  
attention of the one she wanted. Faith spun around and danced between a  
hot blonde guy behind her and a cute brunette girl in front of her. She  
swayed her hips sensuously in a way that even the entirely straight Buffy  
hadn't been able to resist back in the day. She raised her gaze to the  
blonde in the sexiest way she could muster and found those intense blue  
eyes gazing back. Faith caught sight of a dimple as the girl sent a smile  
her way. She returned her own sexy smile and brought her gaze back to her  
partners. She yelled something about another drink and extracted herself  
from the two dancing with her. Faith grabbed her new beer and sat...watching  
for the moment. She plastered her trademark smirk to her beautiful  
features and counted down.  
  
_10...Oh look, she sees that I left.  
  
9...She's looking around.  
  
8...Still can't find me?  
  
7...Damn those eyes...searching the bar.  
  
6...She spots me and smiles.  
  
5...She yells something to her pals.  
  
4...Starts making her way through the crowd._ Faith turns back to the bar_.  
  
3...She's getting closer. Slayer senses...I can feel her close.  
  
2...Closer.  
  
1...And there we have it folks... never fails_  
  
"Hi."  
  
Faith hears the voice to her left and her eyes follow to find the gorgeous  
girl standing with her elbows rested on the bar looking at her. Faith  
smirks..._too damn easy sometimes_.  
  
"Hey...want a drink?" Faith holds up her bottle. Dimple alert. Damn cute  
smile.  
  
"I'm only eighteen."  
  
"So, I'm only twenty."  
  
"Oh...well, then sure, I'd love one...whatever you're drinking."  
  
Faith leaned over the bar and ordered another beer, fully aware of the  
blonde's gaze directed at her ass as she leans forward. She grabs the  
bottle and hands it to the blonde  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Sure...wanna dance?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
The two hit the floor and get settled into the rhythm. Faith likes to  
play, but knows it would be bad if they got too close, as in her old days  
kind of close. She dances like she used to with B, light flirting, but not  
pushing too hard. The blonde almost looks surprised at Faith's lack of  
perusing. Though Faith notices there isn't disappointment written on her  
features.  
  
_She's probably played by my theory once or twice and finds it weird that I  
don't want to screw her on the spot.  
_  
The two dance for a few more hours and down a few more drinks before Faith  
makes a lame excuse to leave. Faith sends her a hip check and smiles  
before heading for the coat check. She begins a silent count down and is  
right on the money once again as the girl grabs her arm lightly before she  
can make it out the door.  
  
"It's still early, you sure you have to go?"  
  
Faith sends her a smile and a tiny wink.  
  
"I'm just moving back to town and I have a job interview tomorrow so I  
can't be out all night tonight."  
  
The girl's face falls slightly.  
  
"Oh...can I at least get your name?"  
  
Faith grins.  
  
"Faith."  
  
The blonde sends her a thousand-watt smile, totally dimple-bearing.  
  
"I'm Clarke."  
  
"Cool...see ya around C."  
  
Faith smirks as she walks out of the club into the cold, snowy street.  
  
_I can guarantee that a slayer/watcher combo never met quite like that  
before.  
_  
Faith makes her way home and practically collapses into bed after setting  
her alarm. A huge smile spreads across the brunette's face as she drifts  
off to sleep.  
  
_I think I'm gonna like it here._


	2. Damn Dimples

A.N. Faith and Clarke officially meet in this chapter, so I'm warning you  
that it may be a long one. There will be a lot of back-story stuff from  
both girls so bare with me through the long dialog sections. Try to  
remember the wacky dreams Faith was having before she woke up about B  
trying to kill her. Kinda explains a few things later. Enjoy part 2!  
  
Faith awoke fairly early the next morning and crawled out of bed. She  
descended the stairs and wandered into the kitchen. As she made her  
breakfast she began to sort through some of her paperwork. It was mostly  
stuff regarding her 'credentials' to be a teacher-type at the school.  
Faith grabbed a pen and began signing as she ate. 27 pages later, she was  
done with both. She eyed the punching bag and decided to have a morning  
workout. After placing a techno cd in the player, she taped up her wrists  
and began swinging madly at the bag in the middle of the room. She fell  
into a steady rhythm that lasted about an hour and when she finished, she  
was dripping with sweat. As she turned the volume up on the stereo she  
thought of the little note Evan left her sitting on top of the paperwork.  
  
_Don't worry; this place is soundproof...listen loud_.  
  
Faith smiled as she cranked the sound and headed for the shower leaving the  
door open so she could hear the music. She grinned when she opened her  
closet door looking in at the clothes that hung there. She grabbed a pair  
of dark hip huggers and a red sweater. Once she was dressed, she blow  
dried her hair and put on some light make-up. She danced her way back  
downstairs and threw her boots on after she turned the music off. After  
pulling on a black nylon jacket lined with fleece, she was out the door.  
  
_Time to check out my ride_. She grinned.  
  
The elevator stopped at the garage level and she sauntered out the doors as  
the opened.  
  
_He didn't tell me what kind of car I have_.  
  
Her dark thick curls bounced under her toboggan as she pushed the alarm  
button on the key chain and followed the sound to a shiny new black  
4Runner.  
  
_Nice_.  
  
Faith was still grinning as she slid in the driver seat. She managed to  
maneuver her way out of the parking garage and down the street to find the  
school. One small coffee detour later, she was on her way. After pulling  
into a parking space, she hopped out of the car and made her way inside  
North Boston High School. Once inside, she noticed the offices located to  
her right and made her way inside what appeared to be the main office. An  
older woman with graying hair looked up and gave her a smile.  
  
"Can I help you?"  
  
"Hi, yeah I have an appointment with Sean Adams, the principal at one."  
  
"Faith McPherson?"  
  
"That's me."  
  
"Okay, why don't you have a seat and I'll tell him that you're here."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
The woman smiled again and headed off in the other direction. Faith  
wandered over and sat in one of the comfy chairs. It didn't take long for  
her to start fidgeting. She was tapping her toe to an imaginary beat as  
she played with her fingernails.  
  
"Faith?"  
  
"In the flesh."  
  
She looked up and found a very non-councily looking man standing in the  
middle of the office. She stood and shook his hand as they exchanged a  
smile.  
  
"Come on back."  
  
He led her into his office and shut the door behind him.  
  
"Please have a seat."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
They each took their seats and Faith couldn't help but notice a funny grin  
on his face.  
  
"I don't think I've said enough to make you smile like that." She decided  
to tease him a bit...just to see how far she could push.  
  
He shook his head briefly and smiled.  
  
"I'm sorry, I just didn't know you were so...young."  
  
"What can I say, I'm aging gracefully, I think it was the coma that really  
did it for me."  
  
He laughed at that and then seemed to be ready to get down to business.  
  
"Alright, first here is this." He handed her a piece of paper. "That's  
Clarke's class schedule. Here is this as well." He handed her another  
piece. "That's her hockey schedule, they practice every night after school  
until five, unless they have a game, which usually fall on Friday nights."  
  
"She plays hockey?" Faith asked obviously impressed.  
  
"Yes, she's one of our star forwards. Sometimes she practices with the  
guys team...it seems, especially lately, that she's a bit too...tough for the  
girls team. Not to say anything bad about them of course. They almost won  
the championship last year and they are the heavy favored team to win this  
year."  
  
"Cool."  
  
"So, any idea what kind of position you might want to take here? I'm sure  
the case was similar in Sunnydale that teachers sometimes...disappear?"  
  
"Yeah, that happened a lot, but mostly because the school was built  
directly on top of the Hellmouth." She began looking around suspiciously  
for a moment. "Are we on a Hellmouth right now?"  
  
He laughed again, shaking his head "No, we aren't. But here's a small  
list of openings right now...take your pick."  
  
She took the list and skimmed over it, she nearly choked when she saw  
librarian on the list.  
  
"You have a teacher that strictly takes care of study hall?"  
  
"Yes...that's the funny thing about that class, lots of students want to  
take it. It's only four periods out of six though, not a bad deal."  
  
"Sign me up for that one, no teaching involved. I'm gonna have enough  
teaching on my hands with all the slayer stuff."  
  
"You've got it. You start Monday morning, first period begins at 7:30  
sharp."  
  
"I'll be here. So, this schedule you gave me says Clarke has a free  
period now, do you know where I can find her?"  
  
"You might want to check the auditorium. She hangs out there  
sometimes. If you can't catch her here, she has practice tonight."  
  
"Cool, well thanks a lot Sean." She stood and shook his hand again.  
  
"Anytime Faith, and don't hesitate to stop by if you have any problems  
with anything."  
  
"Cool, will do, see ya around."  
  
"Take care, have a good weekend."  
  
"Yup, you too."  
  
She turned and headed out the door and as she was leaving the office  
she realized she had no idea where the auditorium was. She asked the  
woman of a million smiles on her way out and waltzed out the door.  
The closer she got to the auditorium, the more she could hear a weird  
noise. She stopped for a moment and focused her senses.  
  
_Drums_?  
  
She smirked and walked closer. She pulled the door open carefully,  
trying not to make too much noise. She rolled her eyes at herself  
when she noticed another set of doors; she opened the next door just  
as quietly.  
  
_What the hell am I doing, somebody's banging away on the drums,  
nobody's gonna hear the door.  
  
_The auditorium looked to hold about 500 people and at the moment it  
was almost pitch black. The stage at the front was brightly lit with  
spotlights pointing on a set of drums with a tiny blonde behind them  
making them sing. Faith was instantly entranced. She moved in a bit  
farther and slid into a seat in the back row. Her mouth gaped open  
slightly as she watched, and listened to the smooth beats coming from  
the drums.  
  
_I guess she's had a lot of practice with pointy wooden things; she'll  
be a pro slayer_.  
  
The fierce drumming slowed for a moment as Faith watched the girl  
glance her way.  
  
_She must have gotten a slayer tickle_.  
  
Faith was almost positive she couldn't be seen through a combination  
of her dark clothes and the lack of lighting around her. She watched  
as Clarke took one last look and shrugged. She began beating wildly  
again and Faith decided to motor. She slipped out as quietly as she  
came in and headed back to the car.  
  
On her way home she decided to make a pit stop. She parked her car on  
the side of the street and made her way inside the building. Faith  
was pleasantly surprised to find a cigarette machine inside the door  
and bought herself a pack of smokes. She made her way to the bar and  
smiled at the guy behind it as she sat down.  
  
"Here to eat or here to drink?"  
  
"I just need a menu and a coke. It's a bit too early to drink for  
me."  
  
He chuckled a bit and handed her a menu.  
  
"Well I always say no drinking before noon. Then again, I'm rarely  
awake before noon."  
  
They laughed briefly and she ordered as she opened her pack and  
plucked out a cigarette. Mike, the bartender as he introduced  
himself, chatted away with her through her late lunch. They talked  
about music and bartending and hockey, which Faith wasn't too 'up' on.  
  
_Everybody in this town has freakin' hockey fever. To each his own I  
guess. Better get used to it with a hockey player for a slayer_.  
  
After lunch Faith headed to the hockey rink where Clarke was having  
practice. She didn't have to worry about the girl noticing her. The  
coach was like a slave driver; she demanded full attention at all  
times. Even through mounds of padding and helmets, Faith recognized  
Clarke immediately. Number 8. Faith stood and watched the practice  
from a distance, managing to find a slightly shadowed corner of the  
rink. The coach blew the final whistle signaling the end of practice  
and the girls began to gather their equipment and head to the dressing  
room. Faith watched as Clarke stood on the ice with the coach after  
the others had left and talked to her for a few minutes. The coach  
skated off the ice and left the girl alone. She skated a few slow  
laps around the rink and stopped at the far end. She stayed on the  
ice an extra hour doing suicides and other skating drills. Forwards,  
backwards, and almost sideways.  
  
_Well, isn't she multi-talented_.  
  
Faith watched as she left the ice and headed for the dressing room.  
  
_This should be interesting_. She thought as she followed the girl to  
the back of the rink. She stopped at the door and decided to try a  
little test. She allowed the girl a few minutes before slipping  
silently through the door. She stood just inside the doorway and  
scanned the maze of sports lockers. She could sense that the girl was  
near the back. She crept quietly through a few rows of lockers and  
stopped short again. Nothing. She grinned as she took a few more  
steps and halted again.  
  
_Knock knock_.  
  
"Who's there?"  
  
Faith grinned, no more play time. The girl obviously had the slayer  
tickle.  
  
_Wonder why B and Kendra never had it...oh well.  
  
_Faith smirked and walked directly to the back where she knew the girl  
was. She approached the girl whose back was turned to her. Faith  
stopped and leaned against a locker crossing her arms over her chest.  
  
"Hey Clarke."  
  
The girl turned quickly at the voice and smiled questioningly at her.  
  
"Faith?"  
  
_Damn that adorable smile_.  
  
"In the flesh blondie."  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"Just watching your back."  
  
The girl opened her mouth as if to say something, but shut it quickly.  
She smiled shyly.  
  
"I'm assuming that little tickle you felt on the back of you neck was  
familiar but it wasn't screaming 'vamp' at you...correct?"  
  
The blonde's eyes narrowed slightly.  
  
"How do you know about that?"  
  
"Cause I'm a slayer...well technically slayer turned watcher...your  
watcher to be exact."  
  
Faith smirked as Clarke's mouth gaped open as she stood simply staring  
at Faith.  
  
"Wait...how...that guy told me...I'm confused." Clark snapped her mouth  
shut and did a mini-pout.  
  
_Dammit, this girl has a freakin' pout too? I can't get away from  
these girls with the pou_ts.  
  
Faith smiled and moved to sit on the bench next to where the blonde  
was still standing...skates and all.  
  
"I'll explain everything...lose the fifty pounds of pads and grab a  
shower. We can go grab some dinner and eat, chat, get acquainted...then  
we can hit the club."  
  
"How do I know you're really a slayer?"  
  
"I'm not sure I can really prove it to you. Technically neither of us  
should be slayers at all, but B screwed it up."  
  
"B?"  
  
"Buffy Summers."  
  
"The slayer Buffy Summers?"  
  
"The one and only, see, she died defeating the Master and the wonder  
of CPR brought her back. Unfortunately, it only takes a second of  
death to call the next slayer. Then came Kendra, she died and then  
came me. I died about a month ago, so that's when you got your big  
power boost. But silly me, I came back too. So now there's three of  
us. Geez, a few more and we can form our own circus act. I can see  
it now."  
  
Clarke stood and stared at her for a moment before shrugging.  
  
"Okay."  
  
Faith raised her eyebrows and shrugged as well.  
  
"Well, that was easier than I thought."  
  
"Well, I had slayer 101 when I was fifteen. Some weird ass tweed-  
doting wanker gave me the run down just in case I was ever called. He  
told me that if it happened someone would show up and give me some big  
speech about 'one girl in all the world', which, he gave me anyways I  
might add. Wouldn't he be surprised that it's now 3 girls in all the  
world?"  
  
"I knew I should've opened with that lame assed speech."  
  
The girls shared a knowing smirk. _Stupid watcher speech_.  
  
_I just added my own little twist...don't knock it, it worked_.  
  
"Okay, so hit the showers and we can motorvate."  
  
"If you say so _watcher_." Clarke grinned.  
  
"Get your skinny slayer ass moving I'm hungry."  
  
"Yeah yeah."  
  
Faith turned and headed out of the room as Clarke shed her 'fifty  
pounds of pads' and grabbed a quick shower. The two headed out to the  
parking lot and stopped at Clarke's red Ford Explorer.  
  
"You live around here?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm a mile east of B.U."  
  
"Cool, I'm about a mile east of you then."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah, did you see the old firehouse on the corner of Main and  
Walnut?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"That's my house."  
  
Faith raised her eyebrows and smiled.  
  
"You live in a firehouse?"  
  
"Yup, pole in the ceiling and all, although I had it refurbished."  
  
"Kick ass."  
  
"Its pretty sweet, anyways, there's a pizza place right around the  
corner, ya wanna go there and take it back to my place so we can talk  
or whatever?"  
  
"Sounds good."  
  
"Let's just park at my place and walk, is that cool?"  
  
"Absolutely, lead the way."  
  
The girls hopped in their cars and headed to the firehouse. Faith  
pulled her car in the truck bay behind Clarke and hopped out. Her  
eyes went a bit buggy when she saw the inside. It had been completely  
restored and was decorated straight out of one of those trendy  
furniture stores.  
  
"This place kicks ass."  
  
"Glad you like it. I'll give you the tour when we get back."  
  
Faith nodded and the two headed out to grab dinner. Twenty minutes  
later they returned with two huge pizza boxes. They each ate half of  
their respective pizzas in no time flat and Clarke reached into her  
bag and grabbed a pack of cigarettes. She pulled one out and offered  
one to Faith.  
  
"I have some, thanks."  
  
"Damn, that pizza was good."  
  
"You have no idea how much I missed Boston style pizza."  
  
"So, where have you been all this time?"  
  
"I was here for a while, but this big ancient Vampire killed my  
watcher and threatened to kill me, so I took off and went to Sunnydale  
to meet the infamous Buffy Summers."  
  
"You met her?"  
  
"Yeah, we were pals for a while."  
  
Clarke picked up on the shift in Faith's features.  
  
"Were?"  
  
Faith rolled her eyes and smiled.  
  
"It's a long story."  
  
"I have all night." Clarke smirked.  
  
"As you know Buffy was called, then she died but came back, blah blah  
blah. This vamp named Kakistos mutilated my watcher. I took off and  
went to Sunnydale. I met her and her friends and we got along pretty  
well until me and B realized that Kakistos followed me there. We  
kicked his ass and dusted him. See the thing with B is that she's a  
super tight ass. Didn't really know how to find the fun. We started  
hangin' out more and she loosened up a bit. We almost got arrested  
one night for breaking into a hunting store. We just needed a few  
weapons to kill this demon, but we got away. So we were out dancing  
one night and we got into it with a group of vamps after we left. All  
of a sudden this freaking human comes outta nowhere and B shoves him  
over to me and I accidentally stake him. He died and me and B kinda  
had a falling out. Then I went a little ballistic and joined forces  
with the mayor of Sunnydale, who wanted to destroy the world. I was  
sent to kill this other guy and I did. Then the mayor had me shoot  
B's boyfriend, who was a vampire with a soul, with a poison arrow and  
the only cure for the poison was slayer blood. So she came after me  
and we had this big knock down blow out and she stabbed me, with my  
knife, and I jumped off the roof onto this truck to get away, but I  
ended up in a coma for six months, just came out of it Wednesday."  
  
Faith almost laughed as Clarke stared at her with a shocked expression  
on her face. She did notice a hint of a smile tugging on the blonde's  
lips.  
  
"So...its safe to assume you and Buffy have a bit of a history."  
  
"Perfectly safe."  
  
"Wow, I feel so boring now."  
  
Faith laughed and pulled out a smoke.  
  
"So, what's the deal with you?"  
  
"No big deal really."  
  
"How is it that you're only 18 and still in high school and you have a  
house like this?"  
  
"My dad."  
  
"Your dad."  
  
Faith gave her a look that said 'you aren't getting off that easy.'  
  
"My dad, well my mom too, when she was alive, started a few small  
businesses. He took old buildings like this and made them into bars  
and restaurants and sold them. He just kept getting bigger and  
bigger. He opened a few hotels too. He was a self-made multi-  
millionaire and when he died he left it to me."  
  
"What happened to him?"  
  
Faith saw Clarke's expression sadden a bit and noticed her jaw clench  
slightly.  
  
"Well, my dad played hockey all through high school and college. He  
busted his knee and missed his shot at playing pro. We were at his  
usual weekly game and he got clipped with a skate blade right across  
his neck. The ambulance came and took him to the hospital and they  
gave him a blood transfusion. This was years ago and apparently they  
didn't check the blood they gave him for HIV, and he got it through  
the transfusion. My mom got really sick when I was 13 and we found  
out she had cancer. Dad stopped taking care of himself while he took  
care of her and apparently his HIV progressed faster under the stress  
and everything. Mom died when I was fourteen. Dad didn't find out  
about the HIV until about 8 months before he died. It had progressed  
into full-blown AIDS by then and there wasn't much he could do. He  
died last year. Fortunately I was kept out of foster care when some  
family friends took me in until I was 18 and the trust fund money was  
given to me. The friends that took me in were some of my dad's  
business associates, the ones that helped redoing these places and  
they got this place set up for me the year I was with them."  
  
"Wow. That's pretty rough. So, your dad taught you to play hockey?"  
  
"Yeah, he had me in skates before I could walk. We used to have a  
pond behind our house and we went skating every night. Mom used to  
get so mad that we'd stay out there so long."  
  
"When did you pick up the drums?"  
  
Clarke's eyes darted up. Her eyes narrowed a bit as her dimple made  
an appearance.  
  
"That was you? I _knew_ I felt someone in there with me."  
  
"I gotta say, you are good."  
  
"That was mom's doing actually. She taught me some basics when I was  
younger and I just kept at it. I've been playing for like ten years."  
  
"Very cool."  
  
Clarke smiled and lit another smoke. The two sat quietly before Faith  
got the true tour of the house. They returned to the living room and  
plopped down on the couch.  
  
"So, did you really have a job interview today?"  
  
Faith laughed.  
  
"Yeah, I'm gonna be working at your school, it'll help me keep an eye  
on you."  
  
It was Clarke's turn to laugh.  
  
"What are you teaching?"  
  
Faith bust out laughing and managed to tell her about study hall.  
Clarke started laughing at that.  
  
"That is freakin' hilarious. I can see it now 'what do you do?' 'Oh,  
I'm a teacher.' 'A teacher?' 'Yup.' 'What do you teach?' 'Study hall.' It's classic really."  
  
"Ya know what? Bite me. I'll be a damn good study hall teacher.  
Geez, now I sound like a wanker."  
  
Clarke nodded her head in mock pity, but she quickly switched to a  
grin.  
  
"Sadly ya do."  
  
Faith rolled her eyes and smiled at the blonde.  
  
"Whatever."  
  
"Ooooh, I think I'll be in your class! Our last teacher kinda  
died...'severe blood loss through a neck wound.' She was nice, kinda  
stupid, but nice. This will be fun!"  
  
"Yeah, it'll be a freakin' riot."  
  
Clarke just stuck her tongue out at her.  
  
"Hey use it or lose it blondie."  
  
Another shy smile from the blonde, Faith grinned.  
  
"So, what's the what, we goin' out tonight?"  
  
"Yes, I am definitely up for an outing, tonight has been a little  
too..." She waved her hands around searching for the right word.  
  
"Depressing?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Wanna hit Roxy again, or someplace different."  
  
"I don't mind Roxy at all, I know most of the people who work there  
and I can probably get us free drinks if Greg and James are working  
the bar tonight."  
  
"Works for me."  
  
_Dimples, those damn dimples, they're gonna be the end of me, unless B  
gets me first.  
_  
"Okay, gimme a minute to get pretty and we can go to yours if ya need  
to change or whatever."  
  
"It's a plan."  
  
Faith smoked another cigarette as she waited for the blonde to get  
ready. A few minutes later Clarke walked down the spiral staircase  
from her loft and Faith was once again left drooling over the girl.  
Her hair was left down and hung in waves just below her shoulders.  
Her jeans hung tightly to her hips. She had a black tank top on with  
a sheer long-sleeved black top over it. She looked _good_.  
  
"Ready?"  
  
"Let's motor."  
  
The girls took Faith's car back to her place and Faith ran upstairs to  
change. Faith slipped on her black leathers and picked a deep red  
halter. She ran some gel through her hair and twisted some strands to  
make it look kinda dready. She freshened up her make-up and headed  
back downstairs. She found Clarke peering at the weapons in the case  
against the wall on Faith's left.  
  
"When do I get to play with these?"  
  
"Um, tomorrow night, we're gonna go patrol."  
  
"Patrol?"  
  
"Yeah, we wander through the cemetery late at night hoping a bunch of  
bumpy faced freaks jump out at us so we can stab them with sticks."  
  
Clarke grinned widely.  
  
"Yay! Sounds like fun."  
  
"Come on blondie, let's go."  
  
They grabbed their coats and hit the streets. They made the brisk  
walk quickly and shed their coats once they got inside. Both made a  
beeline for the bar.  
  
"Greg! Can we get some drinks down here?"  
  
Faith watched as the tall, muscular bartender sauntered over. He  
reached over the bar and kissed Clarke lightly on the cheek.  
  
"Hey baby, how are ya?"  
  
"Good, Greg this is Faith."  
  
Faith smiled at him and watched as he gave her a once-over. He smiled  
approvingly at the blonde and reached over the bar for Faith's hand.  
He kissed it lightly and smiled at her.  
  
"Hey." Faith sent him a grin.  
  
"So, what can I get you ladies?"  
  
Clarke looked expectantly at Faith.  
  
"I'll take two shots of J.D. and a corona."  
  
"Same for me sweetie."  
  
Faith smirked at the girl as she lit a cigarette. She picked up her  
first shot and watched as Clarke downed hers with ease. Faith nodded  
approvingly and downed hers back-to-back. Clarke finished her second  
and grabbed her beer as Faith dragged her to the floor. Faith closed  
her eyes and took a long drink of her beer, settling in. Clarke could  
barely contain her dimples as she watched the dark slayer. The two  
danced for a while before they went back for another drink. Two shots  
and another beer each, they returned to their dancing. Faith was  
starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. She gazed at the blonde  
dancing with her and couldn't help her gaze as it traveled the length  
of the girl.  
  
_Buffy_. Her head sang the name in a teasing tone.  
  
_Dammit, B, get outta my head.  
  
Can't forget her that quickly.  
  
Shut Up.  
  
Nope.  
  
Dammit, its not like I'm cheating, I'm dancing with a girl after B put  
me in a coma after she tried to kill me. Besides SHE'S STRAIGHT!  
  
You can't get away from her.  
  
Watch me.  
_  
Faith finished the last of her beer and reached out and put a hand on  
Clarke's hip and pulled her closer.  
  
_Dimples...dimples are good_.  
  
Clarke wrapped her arms around Faith's neck and leaned forward until  
their foreheads were touching. They danced close for another hour and  
decided to head home. They stumbled happily back to Faith's place and  
burst through the door. Faith went to the fridge after throwing her  
coat on the couch and grabbed a beer for each of them.  
  
_Ooh, she's bustin' out the sexy dimples, she is so freakin' cute_.  
  
Their eyes locked and each took a drink from the bottle in hand  
without relinquishing the gaze.  
  
Faith closed her eyes as she leaned in. She missed the dimples that  
time. The two met in a gentle kiss that was very brief.  
  
Faith straightened and furrowed her brows. Clarke's face matched her  
dark partner.  
  
"That was weird." Faith finally said.  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Was it just me or did that seem a little too...sisterly?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Dammit."  
  
"Yup."  
  
"You gonna say anything besides 'yup'?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Can't say we didn't try."  
  
"Yup."  
  
Faith gave her the look. Clarke smiled sheepishly.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
Faith rubbed her eyes as sleep began to tug at her.  
  
"I guess that settles that."  
  
"Guess so."  
  
Faith took another drink and shook her head briefly.  
  
"Let's not let this get weird. I mean, I'm disappointed, but it's  
pretty obvious that we at least connected in some way."  
  
"I don't want it to be weird either, and believe me, I'm just as  
disappointed as you are."  
  
Faith couldn't help but feel a bit awkward. She fidgeted a bit until  
a sure-fire solution came to mind.  
  
"Hungry?"  
  
"Starved."  
  
_Damn dimples_.  
  
Hee hee, have I got a story for you guys all planned out in my head.  
I just wish I could have it magically go from my head to the screen.  
Stupid typing. I never had intentions of getting Faith and Clarke  
together. Just wanted to tease ya a bit. I've got big plans for our  
girl Faith. I'm doing my part by writing, so you all be good boys and  
girls and do your part with the reviewing. It would make me so happy,  
love the reviews. I'll update as quick as I can. But keep in  
mind...more reviews = more story more quickly.  
  
. 


	3. Feel it

_I love being a slayer...no hangovers for me_.  
  
Faith rolled onto her back in bed and gazed at the ceiling for a few  
minutes.  
  
_Cannot wait to patrol tonight, man I have missed it so much.  
_  
Faith smiled and sighed as she crawled out of bed. She grinned at the  
snoring slayer on her couch as she headed for the kitchen to make  
breakfast. Clarke stirred in her sleep as the yummy smells of breakfast  
tickled her nose. She rubbed her eyes and sat up looking around, she  
smiled and flopped back down.  
  
"Come on blondie, we have a big day of training today."  
  
Clarke grinned and sat up again. Rolling off the couch she bounded over to  
the kitchen and sat at the bar across from Faith as she cooked.  
  
"Mmm, smells good."  
  
Faith grinned at the girl.  
  
"Have you gone Neanderthal on me today?"  
  
Clarke busted out laughing.  
  
"Mmm, me slayer, you cook, me hungry." Clarke grinned as she made her  
voice get all gruffy.  
  
"You are such a spaz. Red would be impressed."  
  
"Red?"  
  
"A friend of B's, she's kind of a computer geek turned witch."  
  
Clarke raised her eyebrows.  
  
"She's a witch? A real witch? Cool. Her name isn't really Red though is  
it?"  
  
"No, it's Willow and yeah, she mostly did little spells, but she was  
getting better."  
  
"Any other interesting friends of hers ya wanna tell me about?"  
  
Faith thought for a second.  
  
"Red's boy toy Oz is a werewolf."  
  
Clarke laughed again.  
  
"Seriously?"  
  
"Big time, had to keep tabs on him once during a full moon."  
  
"So all that is actually true?"  
  
"Yup, except that werewolves turn three nights in a row, the full moon and  
the nights before and after."  
  
"Guess that's good to know."  
  
Faith shrugged and passed her a plate piled with eggs, bacon, toast, and  
hash browns. She slid into the seat next to Clarke and they began to eat.  
  
"Do you miss them?"  
  
Faith forked some food in her mouth giving her an excuse to seriously  
ponder the question.  
  
"Sometimes...they were pretty cool until the whole 'me going nuts' thing went  
down, then Red and X got a little too 'holier than thou' and they kinda  
made me buggy."  
  
"X?"  
  
Faith rolled her eyes.  
  
"Xander, another member of B's little Scooby gang."  
  
Clarke looked at her with a face that said 'are you freakin' kidding me?'  
  
"They call themselves the 'Scooby gang'? Sorry, that's kinda lame."  
  
"It is lame, but they were really tight, ya know? I was kinda envious of  
it."  
  
"You weren't...a big...part of it?"  
  
Faith's face saddened a bit.  
  
"Nah, B was the 'real' slayer and they all kinda followed her lead, she  
kinda thought of me as back-up. No big."  
  
Clarke could see that this was kind of a sore spot, so she let the subject  
drop and got up to put her dishes in the dishwasher.  
  
"So, watcher girl, whatcha got planned for us for today?"  
  
"Well, we're gonna train...just because I have a different title doesn't mean  
I'm not a slayer still and the whole coma thing kinda puts me in the  
negatives as far as being in shape, so we're gonna train...together."  
  
"What are we gonna do?"  
  
"Well, I figured we'd change, then stretch, then take a run, some sparring,  
maybe some target practice..."  
  
Clarke's eyes got wide as a grin spread across her features.  
  
"Yay! Let's go, I have way too much energy this morning."  
  
Faith smirked.  
  
"You dusted a vamp yet?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well if you think you have energy now, just wait until you get a good  
slay...you'll have energy for days."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Believe me."  
  
"I guess I should run home and grab something to train in."  
  
Faith shook her head.  
  
"Nah, we're about the same size, I have plenty of stuff you can wear."  
  
"Okay, let's go."  
  
Faith had to laugh at the girl's enthusiasm.  
  
_She kinda reminds me of me...this is gonna be fun.  
  
Don't have too much fun Faithy...remember last time.  
  
Dammit go away, this is nothing like last time...I'm sane.  
  
If you say so...be good, this is your last shot.  
_  
Faith shook her head clear as she ran upstairs to her closet and grabbed a  
pair of black training pants, a t-shirt and a hoodie and threw them over  
the balcony at Clarke who ran into the bathroom to change. She pulled on a  
similar outfit and grabbed a pair of sneakers.  
  
"I need some shoes Faith. Ow!"  
  
Faith grinned as one of the shoes she tossed over her shoulder obviously  
hit their mark.  
  
"Nice aim for having you back turned."  
  
Faith bounded downstairs and the two sat on the living room floor and  
stretched. They each pulled on their hoodies and toboggans and headed out  
the door. Once they reached the street they started running at a fairly  
slow pace. After about a half mile Faith noticed Clarke running a bit  
ahead of her. She grinned and upped her pace to get ahead of the girl.  
Clarke glanced at her sideways and grinned back upping her speed as well.  
This continued until the girls were both sprinting full throttle. They  
rounded the last block and Faith tapped deep into her slayer strength and  
darted past the girl. The two reached the door of the building in a photo  
finish. They both busted out laughing as they panted for breath.  
  
"Ya know...the wonder of modern medicine would slice and dice you if they  
found out you just came out of a coma three days ago."  
  
"That's what slayer strength is all about girlfriend."  
  
Clarke grinned.  
  
"I really need to learn how to tap into that."  
  
"You will."  
  
They headed inside and hit the elevator. Once back upstairs they shed the  
sweatshirts and stretched for a few more minutes. Faith stood rolling her  
shoulders and motioned for the other girl to stand. Clarke hopped up and  
stood in front of Faith who out of habit raised her hands in a fighting  
stance. Clarke mimicked her dark counterpart and quickly followed suit as  
Faith began to circle. The dark slayer started slow, throwing a couple of  
punches that could easily be blocked. Clarke went to throw a punch and  
Faith dodged grabbing her arm and flipping her over on her back. The  
blonde scampered up quickly and resumed her stance. Faith sent a few kicks  
her way and watched as the girl sent a fairly strong kick her way but was  
way off the mark.  
  
"Clarke, don't think so much, just feel it."  
  
"Feel it?"  
  
Faith dropped her stance and thought for a second. She suddenly dropped to  
the floor sitting cross-legged.  
  
"Here, sit down."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Sit." Faith ordered. Clarke grinned and rolled her eyes.  
  
"Ya gonna make me roll over and play dead next?"  
  
"No, but if ya don't start feeling this some vamp is gonna make you play  
dead."  
  
Clarke rolled her eyes again and sat in front of Faith.  
  
"Okay, think of this like you think of dancing. I've seen ya dance and I  
know that you don't try to force anything; you just sort of...lose yourself  
in it. That's what this power is like. Once you let go it consumes you  
and you just...fly. Close your eyes."  
  
Clarke closed her eyes.  
  
"Just sit and focus. Drown everything else out. Concentrate on that  
little nagging feeling in the pit of your stomach. Just relax and let it  
flow through you. Can you feel it in your stomach?"  
  
Clarke kept her eyes closed and simply nodded. Faith spoke slowly and her  
voice held a certain fluidity as she focused.  
  
"Just keep concentrating on it. Steady your breathing. Let it flow  
through you. Don't think, just act."  
  
Faith stood silently. She suddenly spun around and aimed a kick for  
Clarke's head. She grunted when the girl not only caught her foot, but  
spun her around so she landed on her stomach on the floor. Clarke's eyes  
shot open and she smirked as she saw Faith roll over and hop back up to her  
feet.  
  
"Good."  
  
"That was so weird. It like suddenly there was this...flow. It's like  
everything came together. I can't describe it."  
  
Faith grinned.  
  
"Isn't it wicked?"  
  
Clarke grinned back.  
  
"Sorry, I don't think wicked even begins to cover it."  
  
"Alright, get up, let's try this again, just let it flow, don't force  
anything."  
  
"Got it."  
  
They both dropped back into fighting stances and circled once more. Faith  
sent a few quick jabs her way and they were blocked easily. Clarke  
suddenly sprung at her and Faith used her momentum to sling her over her  
shoulder and onto her back. She grunted and sprang back up. Faith sent a  
spinning kick to the blonde's midsection and connected. Clarke backed up a  
step wincing slightly, but quickly regrouped. Faith spun in the opposite  
direction with a kick and Clarke grabbed her leg and flung her backwards  
heels over head. Faith grinned wickedly as she caught sight of the slayer  
sparkling in the girl's eyes. Faith hopped back up and let loose a series  
of punches to Clarke's head and stomach which the girl blocked and Faith  
saw her chance when the blonde retaliated with a kick. Faith grabbed her  
leg and used one of her legs to sweep Clarke's remaining leg out from under  
her. Falling on her side, Clarke spun around on the floor sweeping Faith's  
legs out from under her and jumped back up as Faith fell.  
  
The two kept up a steady pace of sparring for the next hour and both were  
dripping with sweat as they took a water break.  
  
"Not bad blondie."  
  
Clarke rolled her eyes.  
  
"Whatever, I know you pulled some punches."  
  
"Not as many as you might think."  
  
Faith took a long drink of her water and pointed to the punching bag.  
  
"You take the bag and I'll take the dummy, then we can switch."  
  
Clarke nodded as she reached for a roll of tape on the counter. Faith hit  
the play button on the CD player and the apartment was flooded with the  
music. Faith grinned as she felt the music flow through her. Faith taped  
up her wrists and started whacking away at the training dummy. She sent a  
flurry of jabs and kicks completely enthralled in the routine. Clarke  
seemed to be in her own little world as she was almost buzzing with the  
music and slayer juices flowing through her veins madly. She had never  
felt so alive in her entire life as she punched and kicked furiously. The  
girls switched after an hour and fell right back in the routines. After  
another hour they were both grinning wildly.  
  
Faith caught her breath as she brought an arm across her chest and  
stretched out her shoulders.  
  
"So I figured we can make sort of a routine out of all of this. We can do  
school then you have practice. After practice we can to a quick patrol or  
if it's slow we can train. Friday nights we have off and Saturdays we can  
do mega training. And on the seventh day, we rest."  
  
"Yeah, absolutely, I'm up for as much as I can get. I am totally diggin'  
this whole thing and I know all this training will only help with hockey  
and stuff."  
  
Faith nodded and wandered over to the weapons chest next to the case. She  
pulled out a few knives and went to work setting up the target on the far  
wall. She walked back to Clarke and handed her the knives.  
  
"Target practice."  
  
Clarke nodded and gripped the first knife in her right hand. She focused  
on the target for a moment before whipping a knife towards it. Faith  
grinned as she hit the bulls-eye dead on with the handle. It clanked to  
the floor and Clarke threw another.  
  
"Well, your aim is good, you just have to work on your release so it  
sticks. Make sure you follow through. When you release the knife, you  
should be able to look down your arm directly at the target. Try again."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Faith was impressed as the knife sunk into the target, but missed the bulls-  
eye by about five inches.  
  
"Keep it up kid."  
  
Faith left the girl to her throwing as she sat down Indian style in the  
middle of the living room. She rested her hands on her knees and closed  
her eyes. Faith used the blaring music to better her meditative skills.  
She sat motionless for a few minutes gaining her center and when she  
reached it, she placed her hands in front of her flat on the ground. She  
pulled her body up into a handstand and focused on holding her position as  
still as possible. Once she felt confident, she shifted her weight on her  
right arm and lifted her left hand off the ground. She remained perfectly  
still for ten minutes before switching hands. Clarke turned as she plucked  
the knives out of her target and gazed at Faith for a moment. A small  
smile was tugging on the corners of her mouth as she took in the look of  
utter peace on Faith's face. Clarke's mouth suddenly formed a devious  
smile as she took a few steps towards the brunette. Just as she was about  
to push Faith over the brunette opened her eyes and smirked.  
  
"Not so fast blondie."  
  
Clarke mocked a cute pout.  
  
"Always ruining my fun."  
  
Faith flipped herself over and swung her arms around stretching her  
shoulders.  
  
"Hungry?"  
  
"Yes, let's eat."  
  
"Chinese?"  
  
"Sure, why don't you order and I'll run home and grab some extra clothes  
for patrol."  
  
"Cool. You should just bring over a bunch of stuff, that way you always  
have clothes and stuff here."  
  
"Yeah, that's fine, if you want I can take some of your stuff to my place."  
  
"Okay, let me get some stuff together."  
  
Clarke nodded as Faith ran upstairs. A few minutes later she tossed a  
duffel bag over the railing.  
  
"I'll order and I'm gonna hit the shower."  
  
"Okay." Clarke called out as she walked out the door.  
  
An hour later the blonde returned just as the deliveryman was leaving.  
Faith was spreading the boxes out on the counter. The two girls babbled  
endlessly as they ate, talking about nothing important really although  
Clarke had a million questions burning her brain about Faith's past with  
Buffy. Clarke could feel her excitement building the closer they got to  
patrol. Once the sun set, Faith threw the weapons chest open and grabbed a  
few stakes and a crossbow for each of them. They threw on thick jackets,  
toboggans and gloves and headed out the door. They drove Faith's car down  
the street to the closest cemetery and parked near the gates. Faith hid a  
smirk as she took in the look of sheer excitement on the blonde's face.  
  
Faith was beyond bored after two hours of zero action. Faith had sprung on  
the first vamp she found a few minutes into patrol, not giving either  
girl's senses time to go off. As soon as the dust erupted Faith grinned  
and started dancing. Suddenly she fell backwards into an open grave and  
Clarke was on the ground rolling with laughter. The young blonde was still  
teasing her when suddenly her spidey senses erupted and she got the buzz.  
They both stopped suddenly and looked at each other.  
  
"Can you feel that?" Faith smirked.  
  
"What the hell is it, I feel like my whole body is humming."  
  
"A vamp is close, your body is warming up for battle. Can you feel out  
where it is?"  
  
Clarke stood still and focused for a minute. Suddenly a smile graced her  
features and she nodded to an area up to the right of them.  
  
"I think it's up there."  
  
"Let's hit it."  
  
The two made their way to an area of the cemetery with more trees and fewer  
gravestones. Faith grinned as she watched a newbie vamp pulling himself  
out of the grave.  
  
"It's all yours kid."  
  
Clarke grinned as she took a few steps closer. She waited until he was on  
his feet before she sprung on him. She plowed into the vamp knocking him  
to the ground with a grunt. He used her momentum to flip her over and they  
landed with him straddling her. He sent a flurry of punches and connected  
with her face on a few. She suddenly came to life as she bucked under him,  
flipping him over, switching positions. She landed a few clean blows and  
grinned as she heard bones crunching.  
  
Faith was momentarily distracted by a weird buzzing in her ear. It was  
similar to her slayer sense, the way her and B could always sense each  
other, but it was different. Faith pulled her attention away from Clarke  
and scanned her surroundings. She caught sight of a vamp about 200 yards  
away and was about to charge when he suddenly flew through the air turning  
to dust as a crossbow bolt hit him in the chest. She looked to see where  
it came from and she saw a young girl walking towards an older man. The  
girl was grinning from ear to ear, but her face fell as the man began  
talking, waving his arms around. Faith couldn't hear the exchange but she  
knew it was another watcher training a girl who might become a slayer one  
day.  
  
_Slayer in training?_  
  
Before she could get either's attention she was pulled back to her own  
battle as she heard Clarke shriek. She turned just in time to see the  
blonde flying into a headstone. Faith winced as Clarke hit the stone with  
her shoulder and her head. The girl didn't move. Faith reached for her  
stake and had the vamp dusted in under 15 seconds.  
  
"Clarke!"  
  
Faith shook the girl lightly and grimaced as she opened her eyes. Clarke  
had blood trickling down the side of her face and her left arm hung by her  
side in an awkward position.  
  
"Ya alright blondie?"  
  
"Mmm, damn, my shoulder...something doesn't feel right...damn vamp. Guess I  
failed huh?"  
  
Faith grinned as she hauled the girl to her feet. She wrapped an arm  
around her waist and walked her out of the cemetery to the car. They  
remained fairly silent on the ride home and Faith managed to get the girl  
inside before she collapsed on the couch. Faith ran to get the first aid  
kit.  
  
"Dammit!"  
  
"Easy Clarke, you have a dislocated shoulder. Here put this on your head."  
  
Faith gave her a gauze pad to press on her wound. She sat on the floor and  
grabbed Clarke's left arm. She used her feet to ground the girl on the  
couch and pulled until the shoulder was popped back in place rousing a  
nasty grunt from the blonde. She stood and took the gauze from the  
blonde's hand and checked the wound.  
  
"Well, ya don't need stitches, it's already healing. Gotta love being a  
slayer."  
  
"I almost had him too."  
  
Faith smiled.  
  
"Don't worry kid, you'll get the next one."  
  
"That was pretty cool though, that whole buzzy thing was pretty wild."  
  
"Tell me about it, I got some weird buzzy thing myself, but it wasn't the  
vamp."  
  
Clarke raised her eyes to Faith who was pacing back and forth.  
  
"What was it?"  
  
Faith grabbed a cigarette and lit it. She took a deep drag and paced a bit  
more.  
  
"It was a slayer who hasn't been called yet. She was training with a  
watcher type in the cemetery."  
  
"Really? You could feel her?"  
  
"Yeah, it was weird, I know I get a buzz when another slayer is around, I  
always got it with B, and I have it with you. I get a different one with  
vamps, but this one was something completely separate. It was very  
strange. I didn't know you could sense slayers in training."  
  
"I didn't feel anything besides you and the vamp, maybe it's a watcher  
thing or something."  
  
Faith shrugged.  
  
"I doubt it...oh well, it's no big, just kinda wiggy."  
  
They shrugged it off and spent the rest of the night eating, drinking and  
watching movies. Clarke passed out on the couch around 1 a.m. and Faith  
made her way up to bed. She fell asleep feeling fairly unsatisfied as she  
thought back to the days of Sunnydale where a good slay was just a cemetery  
away.  
  
Faith and Clarke spent the next three months slaying, dancing, drinking and  
training. Faith was having a blast keeping an eye on the spunky slayer  
until she received a phone call that made her sick with anxiety. Giles  
called her one Sunday morning and urged both her and Clarke to come to  
Sunnydale. He didn't go into any detail, but one comment kept ringing in  
her ears.  
  
_Your slayer is in grave danger_.  
  
I hate cliffhangers as much as the next girl, but I had to use this chapter  
to bring Faith and Clarke up to speed with where I'm taking the next part  
of the story. Buffy and the Scoobs make their first appearances in the  
next part and the main plot twist will be revealed. Thanks to those who  
reviewed and keep 'em coming. I know a few people wanted this to be a  
Faith/Clarke thing, but I have other plans for our other fave blonde  
slayer. Hope you enjoyed this shorter chapter; I'll do my best to update  
quickly as long as reviews keep coming.


	4. Facing fears

A.N. As ya can tell by now, I've changed season 4 a bit to make my story  
work as well as parts that I just don't like. For the purpose of this  
story I'm going to say that Riley, not Forest, was killed by Adam when B  
went into the cave looking for him (sorry to those who actually liked  
Riley, me personally I thought he was a bit of a dolt). So, in turn, Oz  
was never captured by the initiative in New Moon Rising (although he leaves  
anyways realizing that his change revolves around Willow), Willow and Tara  
manage a spell to subdue him and with the others' help they get him locked  
away so he won't do any damage. Faith and Clarke return to SunnyD near the  
end of New Moon Rising and Spike and Adam realize that driving a wedge  
between the Scoobs is a bad idea before they do it, so they don't. The  
rest of this story takes place at the end of Season 4 and before the  
beginning of Season 5, so Dawn will not be present. I am going to  
introduce another character that we all know and some of us love. I know  
the back story behind the appearance is a little washy, but I love the  
character and I wanted them to be in the story.  
  
Buffy awoke in her dorm room alone. She figured Willow had stayed with  
Tara. She was still having a few issues wrapping her mind around the  
relationship between them that Willow had confessed. She should have known  
though. She pondered on her apparent blindness when it came to love. She  
never saw Riley's attraction to her until Willow shoved her headfirst into  
it. She managed to miss all the telltale signs with Willow and Tara.  
  
_That's because it hit a bit too close to home.  
  
Shut up, that's long since over, I'm with Riley now.  
  
Ignore it all you want...but are you really in love with him?  
  
Yes, talk about mind-blowing passion...we made love for hours that night.  
  
Yeah...thanks to a spell blondie.  
  
Shut up, it may have been a spell, but I do love him.  
  
Yeah, kinda the way ya love Xander.  
  
Eww...sorry, wrong.  
  
Maybe so, but you won't love anyone the way you loved her.  
  
Shut up...not having this conversation right now...time to check out the caves  
to get some recon on Adam.  
  
I won't be far, stop by anytime.  
_  
Buffy shook herself out of her mental sparring session to get ready for the  
day. Once she was dressed she headed out the door. She approached the  
woods and got her taser gun battle ready. Suddenly she was hit and bowled  
over into a group of bushes. She rolled and pulled herself off the ground.  
She caught sight of an apparent demon running further into the woods in  
the opposite direction of the cave. She took one last look towards the  
cave and took off after the demon. She caught up to him fairly quickly and  
dropped her gun before tackling him to the ground. She grunted as she  
rolled him over and straddled him sending a few jabs to his face. The  
thing was a deep blue color and was scaly with huge, pointy teeth  
protruding from his mouth. As she landed a few more punches she noticed a  
golden symbol on his forehead. The symbol was a half sun half moon with a  
cross separating the two. She snapped a mental picture for Giles and kept  
beating on the demon. She hopped up and pitched him into the trunk of a  
huge tree. She ran towards it and before she could grab him again, he  
stuck a long, sharp claw into her side. She winced as she flung her fist  
across his face and reached into her waistband for her dagger. She held it  
to his throat and was surprised when the demon seemed to grin at her.  
  
"You can't kill me slayer."  
  
Buffy raised her eyebrows and grinned.  
  
"Oh yeah? Watch me."  
  
She sunk the dagger into his gut and watched as the demon didn't so much as  
flinch.  
  
"You may have defeated me but _you_ can't kill me, I decided to try my luck  
with the Chosen One first. I only need one of you and I suspect the others  
will be easy prey."  
  
Buffy opened her mouth to say something but the demon seemed to shimmer out  
of sight.  
  
"What the hell? I need Giles."  
  
Buffy winced as she put pressure on her wound and headed back to retrieve  
her weapon. Once she picked it up she headed for Giles' apartment. She  
kept to more secluded areas and back streets since her white sweater was  
now caked with blood. She stumbled a bit as she reached the steps at  
Giles' apartment and gripped the railing hard as she almost fell. She felt  
herself get faint and collapsed right outside the door and her gun made a  
THUNK sound as it crashed into the door.  
  
Giles turned from his books when he heard something hit the door. He stood  
cautiously and approached the door. He peeked out the peephole and flung  
the door open when he saw Buffy sprawled out on the ground. Her sweater  
was drenched in blood and she wasn't moving.  
  
"Buffy!"  
  
When she didn't respond he knelt beside her and picked her up. He nearly  
tripped on the discarded gun and kicked it through the door ahead of him.  
He laid her gently on the couch and lifted her sweater to get a look at the  
wound. He found a large puncture wound in her side and ran for the first  
aid kit. Twenty minutes later he had her stitched up and was placing a  
bandage over the wound when Buffy began to stir. Giles secured the last  
piece of tape and replaced her sweater.  
  
"Buffy?"  
  
Buffy moaned softly as her eyes fluttered open. She blinked a few times  
and finally found focus on Giles.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"You were injured and collapsed outside my door. Do you remember what  
happened?"  
  
Buffy winced slightly as she struggled to sit up. She decided it was a  
lost cause and slumped further into the couch.  
  
"A demon. It attacked me when I was going to check out a cave where I  
think Adam is camping out."  
  
Giles raised his eyebrows slightly and Buffy could almost see the gears in  
his head turning.  
  
_Typical watcher_. She thought.  
  
"Did you...take care of it...before it did this to you?"  
  
"No...it was weird Giles, we fought...exchanged a few punches and I got a few  
extra in. I kicked its ass and then stabbed it."  
  
"So what happened?"  
  
Buffy's brows furrowed as she tried to work out the pieces in her head.  
  
"It smiled."  
  
"Smiled?"  
  
"Yeah...it said a bunch of stuff about how I defeated him, but couldn't kill  
him. He said he came after the Chosen One first to try his luck, but the  
others wouldn't be so hard."  
  
Giles looked concerned.  
  
"The others?"  
  
"Yeah...the other what's? I'm the only Chosen One...well one of the Chosen  
Two..."  
  
Buffy let her statement trail off as a sudden realization hit her. Her  
eyes got wide and looked at Giles who had realized the meaning as soon as  
she did.  
  
_Faith_.  
  
"Giles we have to get to her now."  
  
"But Buffy, you said 'others' not other. It might have nothing to do with  
Faith."  
  
"But what if she's in trouble?"  
  
"Buffy, we have no reason to believe that Faith is involved in this at  
all."  
  
"Right except he was talking about The Chosen One and others...do you think it meant Willow and Xander?"  
  
Giles shook his head and thought for a moment.  
  
"I don't think demons are aware of The Chosen One's friends."  
  
Buffy ran her hand over her face and chewed on her bottom lip briefly.  
  
"It had to have meant Faith, Giles."  
  
"We don't know that Buffy."  
  
"I know, but I have a feeling it's gonna go after her...can we at least check  
on her?"  
  
"Right...let's go."  
  
Buffy leapt off the couch, her pain suddenly forgotten. She was about to  
run out the door as she looked down.  
  
"I don't think I should go out looking like this."  
  
Giles nodded and ran up the stairs. He returned with a fleece pullover  
that was three sizes way too big, but Buffy pulled it over her sweater and  
the two headed out the door.  
  
As they approached the front desk the woman seated gave them a friendly  
smile.  
  
"Can I help you?"  
  
"Hi, we're here to see Faith...Faith." Buffy stated, not realizing til now  
that she didn't know Faith's last name.  
  
The woman raised her eyebrows and looked at her questioningly.  
  
"Faith?"  
  
"Faith McPherson." Buffy looked up at Giles and raised an eyebrow.  
  
The woman nodded and began tapping at the keys on the keyboard in front of  
her.  
  
"It says here that she was released three months ago."  
  
"THREE MONTHS AGO?" Buffy yelled.  
  
Giles and the woman gave her a look to quiet down and she blushed slightly.  
  
"Yes, she was released on January 4th and left with an older man. I  
remember them because she walked out of here after being in a coma for six  
months. Nobody could explain it."  
  
"So she came out of a coma and you people just let her walk out of here?"  
Giles was practically seething.  
  
"I think I should find you the doctor that released her."  
  
"You do that."  
  
Buffy glared at the woman as she picked up the phone and paged the doctor.

Two hours later the Scoobies were gathered at Giles' apartment. Giles was  
upstairs on the phone to the Council as Buffy paced the floor in front of  
her friends.  
  
"Buff, you're kinda making me dizzy...and worried, could ya quit with the  
pacing and tell us what's going on? Is it Adam?"  
  
Buffy took a deep breath and stood in the middle of the floor.  
  
"No, it's not Adam...it's Faith."  
  
Buffy watched as Xander and Willow's eyes got wide and Tara and Anya sat  
expectantly waiting for more of an explanation.  
  
"What about Faith Buffy?"  
  
"Apparently she's out of her coma. She woke up about three months ago."  
  
"Three months ago? Please don't tell me that you knew she was back and  
you've been keeping her in hiding, because I don't think I could deal with  
that all over again."  
  
"No, Xander, Giles and I just found out today. And I wasn't keeping him in  
hiding..."  
  
Buffy pouted slightly.  
  
"Is she here?"  
  
"I don't know...Giles is talking to the Council right now trying to figure  
out where she is...if they know. I got attacked by a demon this morning  
that said something about the Chosen One and others, so we assumed he was  
going to go after Faith. We went down there and talked to a few doctors  
and they said that a group of men arrived one day and a few detectives were  
with them. Faith had been cleared of all criminal charges and she was  
released. They wouldn't let the doctor near her and insisted that he allow  
her to sign her release papers."  
  
"So do you think the Council took her somewhere to deal with her like they  
did last time?"  
  
Buffy's brows furrowed.  
  
"No...it's weird, a few nurses and the doctor said she walked out...on her  
own. Apparently she was talking to one man in particular and they were  
laughing and joking. It couldn't have been Council."  
  
"It was."  
  
Five heads turned to Giles who was walking down the stairs. He stood at  
the bottom of the steps and removed his glasses and cleaned them.  
  
"What?"  
  
Giles replaced his glasses and moved to sit on the edge of the coffee  
table.  
  
"I've just been informed that the Council was told when Faith was to awaken  
and they made a deal with her."  
  
Buffy's concern was growing and it was etched on her features.  
  
"What kind of deal."  
  
"The Council would release her and expunge her criminal record if she  
became a watcher."  
  
Three mouths gaped open while the other two remained expressionless, not  
knowing what the hell was going on. Buffy had to resist the urge to burst  
into fits of laughter at the thought of Faith as a watcher.  
  
"That's not even funny Giles...you don't believe them do you?"  
  
"Well Buffy, we know she was released and her record is suddenly spotless.  
A group of 'stuffy' men escorted her out of the hospital and she hasn't  
returned here. I was assured that everything they told me was true."  
  
"So if she isn't here, where is she?" Willow finally figured out how to  
make her mouth work.  
  
"Boston. It turns out a new Slayer was called there."  
  
At that, five mouths gaped open.  
  
"So...Faith died?"  
  
"Briefly yes."  
  
"Wow, she pulled a Buffster."  
  
"She was always copying me." Buffy pouted slightly. "So Faith died and a  
new Slayer was called and Faith gets to be _her_ watcher? Why didn't I get  
to be Faith's watcher." More pouting.  
  
"Buffy." Giles looked at her and raised his eyebrows slightly.  
  
"Yeah, okay, so I guess that explains the whole 'others' theory."  
  
"Yes it does...we should get started on researching the demon that attacked  
Buffy this afternoon and we can only assume that for now Faith is safe.  
Two slayers together can take on quite a bit. The Council will be getting  
in touch with Faith to check up on her and they will get back to me."  
  
The group nodded and arranged themselves with stacks of books. After Buffy  
gave them a description of the demon and the symbol she headed outside to  
think.  
  
_Welcome to bizzaro world Buffy. I don't think this day could get any  
stranger. There's three of us now? Faith is still technically a slayer  
even though she's a watcher. Why do I feel so torn about this? Hmm, let's  
explore that shall we? She switched sides and joined the mayor...she shot  
Angel with a poison arrow...she nearly killed Willow and Xander, plus she  
killed that professor, and she killed Finch...that was accidental and it just  
as easily could have been me. But on the other hand, she told me how to  
defeat the mayor and save the world...then there's that little issue with me  
lov- nope, not gonna go there, I won't let that cloud my brain. Why  
couldn't Finch have been my fault? I at least had people to fall back on,  
Faith had nobody...except me and a lot of good I did. I just pushed her away  
and made her feel more to blame. I am such a bitch. Then again, she  
didn't kill Willow or Xander and we're even as far as killing  
goes...kinda...She kills Finch accidentally; I try to kill her...intentionally.  
Eye for an eye? That's bullshit. I'm just a better liar. Dammit Faith,  
why do you do this to me? Every time it comes to her I'm torn. I'm torn  
between girl and slayer. I can't decide who to be. I'm torn between good  
and bad...that ended well last time. I'm torn between Riley and  
her...wait...huh? No, not going there, can't go there, no way. Dammit  
Faith!!!  
_  
"Buffy?"  
  
The slayer was snapped out of her inner debate by Xander. He took a few  
steps and joined her on the stairs.  
  
"Hey Xand."  
  
He gave her a knowing smile and slid his arm around her shoulders giving  
her a little squeeze.  
  
"So how do you feel about all of this?"  
  
"Actually, I was kinda wondering how you feel about it, she tried to  
strangle you, not me."  
  
"Right, but you do remember that big knife she was going to use to kill you  
right?"  
  
Buffy nodded sadly as Xander sat thinking for a moment as he peered at the sky.  
  
"Honestly? I have a few issues with her, but I can kinda see why she did  
everything that she did."  
  
"You can?"  
  
"Well I don't wanna dive into the inner-workings of Faith's mind, mostly  
because I think it would take us places we don't want to go, but she was  
pretty much dealt the ultimate rejection by us after everything with Finch  
went down and I think she got scared and didn't know what to do. I know  
that siding with mortal enemies kinda crosses the line, but I think she  
felt like she had no place else to go. Besides, you were the one with the  
friends and the family and the watcher and she had nobody. Even when she  
did have somebody turn up, the stupid wench ended up being evil and told  
her a bunch of crazy lies. It must have messed with her head."  
  
Buffy nodded as she took in what Xander was saying.  
  
"Do you think you can forgive her?"   
  
"I don't know...I think forgiveness comes with trust. You can give all the  
forgiveness you want, but if the trust isn't there that the person will  
change or has changed, then it's kinda empty. If we did see Faith again,  
she would have to earn my trust in order to get my forgiveness."  
  
Buffy nodded and the two drifted off into separate thoughts.  
  
_Can I forgive Faith for everything she did? I forgave Angel. He killed  
Jenny and tortured Giles. He nearly killed us all and destroyed the world.  
But dammit he lost his soul...damn curse. Xander is right though; she'll  
have to earn it back. Then again, she's been out for three months watching  
another slayer and tragedy hasn't struck...I think I should get back to that  
point once we hear back from the Council. But still, if that checks out,  
it's a start. I will try to give her another chance to be good, but it's  
the last chance she gets. I just care about her too damn much. If I  
hadn't felt so damn guilty the first time things might have been different.  
I felt so bad that she was dealt such a crappy hand in life. I got the  
friends and the family and the watcher...what did she get? A dead watcher  
and an ancient vamp tracking her cross-country. She had to live in that  
dump...how did she even have money to eat? Dammit, I am such a spoiled  
bitch.  
_  
"Buffy, how do you feel about Angel right now?"  
  
Buffy gave him a look of confusion.  
  
"Xander, what does Angel have to do with anything?"  
  
Xander gave her a look.  
  
"Buff, this doesn't ring any bells? First we have a good guy, good guy  
plays on our side, yet, there's a teeny bit of...bad. Next, good guy turns  
bad and tries to kill us all. Next, good/bad guy goes away for a while and  
we move on...then, good/bad guy comes back and we somehow find a way to  
forgive and...well, not forget, but do ya see where I'm going with this?"  
  
Buffy sat thinking for a moment before looking at her friend. Her brow  
furrowed and she shook her head.  
  
"Angel was different."  
  
"How?"  
  
"He lost his soul. He didn't know what he was doing."  
  
"Look, you and Will are more the psych gals here, but don't ya think she  
might qualify for temporary insanity?"  
  
Buffy snorted.  
  
"I'll at least give her partial temporary insanity."  
  
Xander took one of Buffy's hands in his and his gaze fell to the ground.  
  
"Look Buff...I know that back then my 'relationship' with Faith was a big  
joke to you guys...but I saw Faith. I saw her for a moment when she was just  
a girl...no walls. It was brief...she...had issues Buffy...major issues, I don't  
think we could even begin to understand some of them...my point is, she may  
have been a hard-ass and a bitch, but underneath everything, she was just a  
girl, who was scared and alone and vulnerable."  
  
Buffy looked up at him and noticed unshed tears in his eyes. Her face  
softened for a moment and she smiled sadly at him.  
  
"You...cared about her didn't you?"  
  
Xander sniffled and laughed briefly before wiping his eyes.  
  
"I thought I could be the one." He paused for a moment. "Maybe nobody  
else saw it, but she had so much...pain in her eyes. I just wanted to be the  
one that she could turn to and I wanted to be the one that comforted her.  
I know it sounds dumb. I thought I could be that person for her. I wanted  
to be, at least."  
  
"Me too."  
  
Xander looked at her questioningly, she just smiled and shook her head. He  
returned her smile and nudged her playfully.  
  
"Come on Buff, let's go back in and order up a pizza and hit the books."  
  
Buffy smiled up at her friend as he stood. The two made their way back  
inside and joined the book brigade.  
  
A few hours later Buffy left to patrol. She decide to head back to the  
cave and scope out the sitch with Adam. She approached the area quietly  
and constantly scanned the area looking out for the demon from earlier.  
She reached the mouth of the cave and listened carefully. Once she decided  
it was clear, she took a few steps inside. The lack of lighting was making  
things difficult, so she had to feel her way through with only a tiny  
flashlight. She almost yelped as she tripped on something and fell face  
first into the ground. She scampered to her feet and almost screamed when  
the beam of light landed on the Riley's face, lying dead on the floor. She  
stood in stunned silence as tears began to well up in her eyes. She found  
a huge puncture wound through his abdomen and out his back. She did her  
best not to break down. Suddenly she was pulled from her grief when she  
heard a voice bellowing through the cave. She pushed back her tears and  
managed to pull herself out of the cave. She crouched near the entrance  
and watched as Adam approached Riley's body and picked it up. She heard  
him mumbling something about a brother as he carried the body away. She  
sat at the entrance to the cave for close to thirty minutes crying her eyes  
out. Sobs wracked her body. She managed to pull herself together and she  
walked back to Giles'. Her face held no expression as she walked through  
the forest. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she walked with  
seemingly no purpose.  
  
Five pairs of eyes lifted as she walked back in the door. Willow noticed  
immediately that something was wrong. Buffy felt her tears threaten again  
as Willow took her outside to talk.  
  
"Buffy?"  
  
The blonde sat on the same steps that she had earlier and ducked her head.  
Her chin began to quiver. Willow wrapped an arm around her shoulders and  
felt the blonde shaking.  
  
"Buffy, you're shaking...are you hurt?"  
  
Buffy let out a strangled sob as she shook her head. Willow got up and  
knelt on the steps in front of her friend and searched her face. Buffy  
allowed her gaze to travel to the redhead and suddenly she held a hand to  
her mouth. Her eyes got wide as she shoved Willow out of the way and  
headed to the flower beds. Willow stood and watched as her friend threw  
up, her panic and concern growing by leaps and bounds every second. Once  
her stomach was empty, Buffy wiped her mouth on the sleeve of her jacket  
and turned to face her friend. Tears spilled down her cheeks and she  
managed to choke one word out.  
  
"Riley."  
  
Willow's eyes got wide and she gave Buffy a look that said 'please don't  
tell me what I think you're going to tell me.' Buffy recognized the look  
and simply nodded. Willow felt her own chin quiver at the realization.  
Buffy saw her face and broke down. Willow moved closer and pulled the  
blonde into a tight embrace as they both wept for their friend. The  
redhead did everything in her power to comfort her best friend and the two  
remained outside for over an hour. They were interrupted by Xander, when  
he came out to tell them they had found something on the demon. A few  
minutes later the two went back inside and sat on the couch. Giles handed  
Buffy a book.  
  
"Is this the demon Buffy?"  
  
Buffy nodded.  
  
"Canisat, he is linked to a very specific prophecy dealing with slayers it  
seems."  
  
"What's the prophecy?"  
  
Giles became a bit uneasy.  
  
"We don't know yet, we haven't found much, it just says there's a prophecy  
regarding slayers. We'll keep at it. If you want you can go and we will  
continue."  
  
Buffy sent him a grateful smile and stood. Willow walked her to the door  
and the two exchanged a few words. Buffy basically gave her permission to  
tell everyone else about Riley. She smiled sadly at her friends and headed  
home.  
  
Buffy woke the next morning feeling better. She knew that she had to  
postpone mourning for Riley for a while. With this new demon and  
everything with Faith and Adam, she had too much to deal with. She  
couldn't allow herself to break down now. After convincing Willow that she  
was okay, the two grabbed coffee before heading over to Giles's again.  
They gave their good mornings as they arrived and handed out coffee all  
around before getting settled.  
  
"Buffy, I think we found our prophecy."  
  
"Really, already? Whatcha got?"  
  
Giles handed her another book and pointed to the prophecy.  
  
_The first of three,  
  
By daylight she'll see  
  
Midlight, First day.  
  
The second of three,  
  
By darkness she'll see  
  
Midnight, full light  
  
The third of three,  
  
By shadow she'll see  
  
Third night, default light.  
_  
Buffy read it through a few times before lifting her gaze to her watcher.  
  
"Okay, Giles you want first dibs on explanations?"  
  
Giles nodded and began to pace.  
  
"Well, it's quite simple. The first of three is you; you were the first  
called of the three active slayers. By daylight she'll see, that's self-  
explanatory, the demon attacked you in daylight. Midlight, first day, is  
noon, which is fairly accurate as far as I can tell judging by when you  
arrived here. The first day pertains to the first day of the lunar cycle,  
the day before the full moon." Buffy nodded and he continued. "The second  
is obviously Faith, it will attack her at midnight during the next full  
moon."  
  
"As in tonight?"  
  
"No, the demon can only appear once a month. Faith is safe until next  
month. Anyways, Faith's slayer is the third and she will be attacked  
during the third night of the lunar cycle. She shadow refers to a lunar  
eclipse that is scheduled for the month of June. It will attack as soon  
and the moon is eclipsed."  
  
"So have you heard back from the Council as far as Faith is concerned?"  
  
"Yes, they assure me that she is safe and gave me her phone number so I can  
call her and warn her of this prophecy."  
  
Buffy nodded.  
  
"So, do we know anything else about the demon?"  
  
"Well, we know that it has to be defeated three times during the three  
consecutive lunar cycles. It can appear out of nowhere and appears the  
second it is prophesized to. Once it is defeated the third time, it's  
gone."  
  
"So, it should be easy then right? Faith and her slayer just have to kick  
its ass and it's gone?"  
  
"Well, I suspect it will be much more difficult for the other two. You  
haven't been in a coma or called just recently, so you probably had it the  
easiest. I suspect the fight will be much more difficult for the other  
two."  
  
"So what happens if it isn't defeated?"  
  
Giles removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes briefly.  
  
"Well, the slayer that fails to defeat it will be possessed by the spirit  
of the demon and basically becomes invincible, and it will destroy  
everything in its path."  
  
Buffy's eyebrows raised and she opened her mouth to say something and sort  
of stuttered a few words before her face fell.  
  
"So, it could turn out really bad if Faith and her slayer aren't prepared."  
  
"Yes, very bad indeed."  
  
"Any ideas?"  
  
The group looked to Giles who fidgeted slightly.  
  
"I did have one...keep in mind that it's just a thought. Don't overreact."  
  
Buffy smiled and rolled her eyes. She looked up at him expectantly.  
  
"Well, not only do we have to worry about this, we have Adam to deal with  
still. I was going to propose we have Faith and her slayer come here.  
They can help with Adam and we can make sure they are both prepared to deal  
with Canisat."  
  
Buffy took that opportunity to steal glances at her two best friends.  
Xander looked deep in thought and Willow looked a bit freaked.  
  
"Will, what do you think?"  
  
Willow sat and her brows furrowed for a moment.  
  
"Honestly Buffy, I still have some issues regarding Faith, but she might  
help."  
  
Buffy nodded and turned her gaze to Xander.  
  
"Xand?"  
  
"It's a start Buff, you know that."  
  
Buffy nodded thinking back to their conversation yesterday. She turned her  
gaze back to Giles.  
  
"You think they'll come?"  
  
"We'll have to make Faith understand."  
  
"Would you mind being the one that calls her?"  
  
"It shouldn't be a problem...watcher to watcher after all."  
  
Giles shook his head slightly although Buffy could see the hint of a small  
smile tugging at his lips.  
  
"I guess that's that then."  
  
Giles nodded and headed for the phone upstairs. The remaining Scoobies  
proceeded to fill Tara and Anya in about everything that had happened with  
Faith the first time around. Buffy felt it was necessary...not to make Faith  
seem evil or crazy...she just wanted to make sure the two girls knew what  
could happen if Faith decided to take a trip down memory lane...in a physical  
sense. Buffy heard the phone ring as soon as Giles hung up with Faith and  
he began yammering away in watcher-speak. A few minutes later he came back  
down and explained that the slayers would be here in a few days.  
  
"Apparently we have three guests arriving."  
  
"Don't tell me we have a fourth slayer."  
  
"No...a potential."

Faith hung up the phone after talking to the school and was tossing her bag  
over the railing as Clarke walked through the door with a similar bag over  
her shoulder. The two of them exchanged an anxious smile. Both girls were  
feeling sick over the trip they were about to embark on. Though both for  
different reasons. Faith was worried sick about facing the Scoobies again.  
She was afraid they were gonna let her have it.  
  
_Wonder if B's gonna try to gut me again_. Faith thought somberly.  
  
Clarke on the other hand was scared to death of flying. She had explained  
her fear to Faith who tried to calm her fears the best she could. Faith  
thought back to the conversation they had a few nights ago after Giles had  
called and they decided to head to Sunnydale.  
  
_I understand that the plane crashing wouldn't be that bad, one second and  
it's over. That's not the part that scares me. The part that scares me is  
the fact that you are miles in the air and you have like five minutes to  
think before you crash. Do you have any idea how many times you can say  
'Oh my God, I'm about to die.' in five minutes?_  
  
Faith assured the girl that they would be fine. They threw a few extra  
deep-breathing exercises into their routine and Faith assured the girl that  
she would sedate her if she couldn't handle it.  
  
"So did you call the school?"  
  
Faith rolled her eyes and nodded.  
  
"Yeah, Sean was all wigged out about it, but I told him the sitch and he  
said everything's cool. He said you were far enough along in all your  
classes that taking your finals wouldn't be too much of a problem. He's  
gonna e-mail them to you and if you pass everything he is going to mail you your diploma."  
  
Clarke nodded sadly.  
  
"Pissed that you can't graduate with your friends?"  
  
Clarke shrugged and furrowed her brows.  
  
"No...I just get the feeling that this won't be the last thing that slaying  
gets in the way of."  
  
Faith gave her a knowing nod.  
  
"You got that right kiddo. It won't be. Ya just have to think of it as  
being worth it. Giles said that if we can't beat this thing, it's pretty  
much bye-bye Earth."  
  
Clarke pouted slightly.  
  
"Yeah, I know...it just sucks sometimes. Don't get me wrong, being a slayer  
kicks ass and it totally has its perks, it just gets in the way a bit."  
  
Faith smirked.  
  
"Damn right it kicks ass."  
  
Clarke looked up at her and rolled her eyes, but her features slowly slid  
into a grin. She took a deep breath and let it out in a huff.  
  
"So, ya ready to face your fear slayer?" Faith asked as she walked down  
the steps.  
  
"Dunno watcher, you ready for yours?"  
  
"I guess we'll see. We better motor if we're gonna make the flight."  
  
"Yippee, I'm jumping for joy at the thought of spending eight hours trapped  
in a giant tin can with no room to move around."  
  
"Don't worry C, I told you that if ya can't handle it, we'll make sure you  
sleep through the whole thing."  
  
"Yeah yeah, let's get rolling, wouldn't wanna miss our flight."  
  
Faith grinned as she grabbed her bag and the two headed downstairs. They  
hopped in Faith's truck and headed towards the airport. Faith slipped the  
Linkin Park CD into the player and Clarke perked up instantly. The two  
sang and rapped a few songs that they both loved and Faith could  
immediately sense the other girl had calmed. Suddenly Clarke turned the  
volume down and turned to Faith.  
  
"Are you scared?"  
  
Faith snorted.  
  
"Hey, I'm five by five...looking forward to a return trip to the Hellmouth."  
  
Clarke just rolled her eyes.  
  
"Faith don't give me that five by five bullshit, you know as well as I do  
that I figured that expression out."  
  
Faith's eyes narrowed slightly.  
  
"What are you talking about."  
  
"Well, I still don't know what it means, but I know what it means when you  
say it."  
  
"And that would be?"  
  
"You only say it when you are playing 'Faith the Badass'.  
  
"I'm not playing Faith the Badass, I'm just playin' me."  
  
"Faith, you know what I'm talking about. You only say it when you're  
scared, or when you feel vulnerable or whatever, it's a defense mechanism.  
Don't even try to play dumb, you know what I'm talking about."  
  
Faith suddenly opened her mouth and shut it again. She opened it again and  
made a few indescribable sounds and huffed as she shut it again.  
  
"You know I'm right."  
  
Faith rolled her eyes and sighed.  
  
"Fine, you win."  
  
"Faith, I don't want to win, I just want you to talk to me."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"You are so stupid sometimes, especially when it comes to this stuff."  
  
Faith shot her a glare.  
  
"All I mean is, it's normal for people to talk about things that scare  
them." Clarke thought for a second. "Like when I told you about my fear  
of flying, I didn't do it so you would pity me, I did it because I thought  
you might be able to help. I know you hate pity parties and that is not in  
any way what I want to do to you...I just wanted to help, maybe I can't, but  
at least give me the chance to try."  
  
Clarke's face saddened a bit and her gaze fell to her hands grasped  
together in her lap. Faith thought for a second and sighed again.  
  
"I'm terrified."  
  
Clarke's eyes darted up and she smiled at Faith. Faith saw the  
'heartwarming' smile and rolled her eyes again.  
  
"Not only do I have to worry about B gutting me again, I'm gonna have to  
deal with her little followers giving me dirty looks and talking shit. And  
aside from all that, I'm not so sure I can handle rejection from her  
again."  
  
"Buffy?"  
  
"Yeah, who else? I've been in love with her since the first time I saw her  
at the Bronze with her little lap dogs. I thought we were gonna be tight,  
but she treated me like a wannabe second-string slayer. Back-up, in case  
of emergency only. I would have done anything for her back when things  
were good between us. I guess my first mistake was playing 'Faith the  
Badass'. It doesn't matter, this isn't a social call, it's business, they  
help us, we help them, end of story. We go back to Bean Town and all is  
right with the world."  
  
Clarke grinned smugly at Faith's confession...it wasn't much, but even a  
little means a lot. She decided share time was over and turned the volume  
back up. She smirked when she saw a hint of a smile on the brunette's lips.  
  
Both girls sat with their bags at the gate with headphones on. Faith was  
rapping silently as she stole a glance at her slayer. Clarke was sitting  
cross-legged in the chair next to her doing her best to relax. Faith  
noticed everyone around her stand up and she nudged Clarke to tell her it  
was time to go. Faith felt her heart melt as the poor girl looked like she  
was about to cry.  
  
"Clarke honey, relax, we'll be fine."  
  
Clarke gave her a nod and followed Faith onto the plane. The plane had  
three seats on either side of the middle row and Faith had made sure to get  
seats near the front. She knew the engine noises could be unnerving. They  
found their seats and Faith took the window as Clarke took the middle. The  
girl immediately began fidgeting with her headphones that were in her lap.  
Both girls lifted their gazes as a very cute brunette took the seat next to  
Clarke. She sent a smile to both of them and looked sympathetically at  
Clarke. Faith brought her gaze back to the blonde and nudged her slightly.  
Clarke managed to drag her gaze away from the body of the girl who was  
shoving her bag in the overhead compartment.  
  
"So, C, did I ever tell you about the time that me and Buffy went to prom  
together?"  
  
Clarke was about to answer when a loud thumping sound and a yelp distracted  
her. The two looked to the brunette as she rubbed her head and smiled  
sheepishly at them.  
  
"Sorry, I...don't mean to interrupt...are you talking about Buffy Summers?"  
  
Faith raised her eyebrows at the girl as she sat down.  
  
"Yeah, the one and only."  
  
"Buffy Summers the s-" The girl hissed for a moment before realizing she  
was on a plane full of people. "The...search party...member?" The brunette  
gave her a look that apologized for almost slipping.  
  
Faith smirked for a moment realizing her spidey senses had been going off  
this whole time; she had just been too wrapped up in Clarke's wiggins to  
notice them.  
  
_Another freakin' potential?  
_  
Faith almost laughed at the girl's attempt at a cover story.  
  
"Yeah that's the one."  
  
The brunette eyed her for a moment. Suddenly her eyes got wide.  
  
"You're Faith, the other s...search...party member."  
  
Faith smiled at the fact somebody knew who she was.  
  
"Yeah that's me...Buffy was called in for a...'mission', but she...disappeared  
briefly and then Kendra," Faith grins. "Got the call to help. But when  
Kendra arrived, Buffy had...re-appeared. So, long story short,  
Kendra...disappeared and I got the call to help with the...searching"  
  
Faith grinned as she watched Clarke put the pieces together and grinned  
broadly.  
  
"Then Faith disappeared and I was apparently the next one on the list."  
  
The brunette's face twisted slightly.  
  
"Huh, that's weird, I thought I was next on that list. Dammit, so close."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
The girl smiled.  
  
"Nah, don't sweat it...I don't think I'm ready to...disappear quite yet...it's  
apparently becoming a trend these days. I'm Kennedy by the way."  
  
Clarke smiled at the gorgeous girl next to her.  
  
"I'm Clarke, and you already know Faith."  
  
"So, Kenny, why are you headed to SunnyD?"  
  
"Well, my...boss...is going out of town for a while and he's sending me to  
Giles, Buffy's...boss, so he can keep an eye on me. Plus he figured I could  
get some extra search...training..." The three girls grinned at their lame  
cover story.  
  
"So, how did you know who I was?"  
  
"My boss has a copy of yours and Buffy's file, I read 'em both...I saw your  
picture." Kennedy eyed her two travel companions. "Apparently the PTB  
have a thing for hot searchers."  
  
Faith rolled her eyes and slipped her headphones back on as the two younger  
girls jaw-jacked their way through the flight.  
  
_Apparently Clarke found a cure for her fear of flying_.  
  
Faith smirked as she drifted off to sleep.  
  
Eight hours later the three stepped off the plane and headed for the car  
rental counter. They grabbed their bags and headed out to the parking lot.  
A grin formed on each face as they stopped in front of a red jeep  
wrangler. They quickly shed the top and piled their luggage inside and  
drove off to Giles' apartment.  
  
"So Buffy was killed by the Master right?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"How did Kendra die?"  
  
"Her throat was slit by this looney vamp named Druscilla. She had a screw  
loose."  
  
"So...how did you die?"  
  
Faith flinched for a second and focused on the road ahead of her.  
  
"Me and B had a big blowout and she stabbed me and put me in a coma for six  
months...apparently I died for a minute or two. That's all it took for our  
cute little blondie here to take over the line."  
  
"The line?"  
  
"Yeah, B was called, she died and came back, but it only takes a minute to  
activate the next girl, so Kendra showed and she died, I showed and I died,  
so now the whole show has landed on Clarke."  
  
Kennedy laughed from the backseat and hit Clarke playfully on the arm.  
  
"Ya better be careful blondie."  
  
"Bite me."  
  
"You offering?"  
  
"Not yet."  
  
Faith grimaced.  
  
"Alright you two, enough for now. Can we pause with the flirting at least  
for now, I just sat through eight hours of this."  
  
Clarke shot her a mock pout.  
  
"Aww, is Faith jealous?"  
  
"Dammit Clarke."  
  
"Why would she be jealous? I'm not stepping on any toes am I?"  
  
"Eww, no...we...no, no toes being stepped on...Faith just has a little crush."  
  
"Clarke!"  
  
"What? She doesn't know it's Buffy."  
  
Clarke winced and waited for the bomb to blow. When nothing happened she  
stole a glance at Faith. The slayer was gripping the steering wheel  
tightly and Clarke could see the muscles in her jaw clenching and un-  
clenching.  
  
"You have a thing for Buffy?"  
  
"Dammit! Yes, I'm in love with the stupid, blonde, bitch of a slayer that  
we're going to see. I'm a little tense, seeing as how she tried to kill me  
last time we met, so leave it alone you two."  
  
"Do you think she's interested in you?"  
  
Faith grumbled something under her breath and reached into her coat pocket  
for a smoke. Once it was lit she took a slow drag and exhaled the silver  
smoke and it danced madly around her head in the wind.  
  
"I seriously doubt it...not anymore at least...she may have been at one point,  
but I screwed it all up."  
  
Clarke shot Kennedy a glance and smiled and raised her eyebrows. Kennedy  
smirked and nodded back.  
  
"We could always find out."  
  
Faith sent a quick look at Kennedy in the rear-view mirror and glanced at  
Clarke, who both wore identical expressions.  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"Well, the two of us can play interested to see if she turns green."  
  
Faith pondered for a second and shrugged briefly.  
  
"Maybe just a bit...nothing overboard."  
  
The two girls grinned wickedly and Faith cranked the music. Once they  
arrived at Giles's apartment, they hopped out of the jeep and made their  
way to the door. Faith knocked and stuffed her hands in her pockets.  
  
_Here goes nothing_.  
  
Yup, sorry another cliffhanger. I got enough reviews to push me to add  
another chapter as quickly as I could, hope ya like this one. I figured I  
would make this and the reunion separate chapters so the story isn't rushed  
too much. Understand that the Scoobies haven't forgiven Faith for the  
wrongs she did in the past, they are just putting the greater good ahead of  
their own feelings. They are all a little hesitant about Faith coming  
back. Hope it wasn't stupid to have Kennedy arrive on the scene; I  
personally am a huge Kenny fan, although I like W/K, but that isn't really  
feasible for this story. So, by now, you should realize who I've been  
saving Clarke for. As of now I have the two slayers and the potential in  
SunnyD for a few months, might be permanent, might not. Most likely will  
be though, haven't decided. I'll just see how the relationships play out.  
Thanks to those who reviewed and hopefully I haven't disappointed with this  
chapter, I promise more will be explained and thoroughly explored in the  
coming chapters. I don't want to rush this story, but it's hard when I  
know where I want it to go. Please review some more; it makes me all happy  
inside. 


	5. This time around

A.N. Okay, here's the next chapter, hope ya dig it. Just so ya know, I  
hate the word 'chuckle' it sounds like something old women do at their  
weekly bingo games. I had to use it a few times just because it was really  
the only form of describing certain forms of laughter that I could think  
of. Had to let you know that. So when you see any variation of the word,  
just know that your author was grimacing while typing it out. I didn't get  
as much feedback as I had hoped from the last chapter, but decided to drop  
this one anyways. Hope ya like it. It's a Fuffy all the way. Oh, and the  
songs both belong to Linkin Park, I realize however that the album that  
the songs are on wasn't exactly around in the time period of the show, but  
after listening to both songs, they seemed to fit Faith perfectly.  
  
Faith stood anxiously at the door with her hands stuffed in her pockets.  
Seconds later the door opened and Giles smiled tentatively at her. She  
returned the nervous smile with one of her own.  
  
"Hey Giles." Faith spoke the greeting so softly Giles barely heard her.  
  
"Faith, girls please come in."  
  
Faith ushered both Clarke and Kennedy in the door ahead of her.  
  
"Giles this is Clarke, my slayer and this is Kennedy. Guys this is Giles."  
  
"Nice to meet you both."  
  
Faith followed the two in the door and stopped short when she saw Buffy  
who was standing near the desk in the middle of the room. Giles began  
introducing the two girls to everyone; the whole gang decided to attend  
the welcoming party. Buffy said hello to the girls and smiled at them  
both before she turned her attention back to Faith whose gaze hadn't  
left the blonde. As always Buffy lost the staring contest and took a  
tentative step towards the brunette. She gave Faith a small smile.  
  
"Hey Faith."  
  
Faith returned the tiny smile with one of her own.  
  
"Hey B."  
  
Faith peered over Buffy's shoulder as the blonde turned when they heard  
Willow begin to babble loudly. Xander was standing next to Willow  
staring at Clarke in a very familiar way.  
  
"Just ignore Xander, the cat always has his tongue when he's around  
cute slayers...oh...but not that I think you're cute...well, I mean you  
are...it's just that Xander obviously thinks...the cat obviously never has  
my tongue when I'm around cute anythings..." The redhead looks at Tara.  
"You're supposed to stop me when I do that." Willow sighed and looked  
around slightly embarrassed but looked at Tara again. Tara just smiled  
lovingly at the redhead. Buffy turned back to Faith and smiled again.  
Buffy studied her for a moment. Buffy sensed something different.  
  
"You look good Faith...I mean, you look..."  
  
Faith smiled slightly as she jammed her hands back in her pockets.  
  
"Thanks B, you too."  
  
Buffy smiled again and reached out and grabbed Faith's arm and pulled  
her into the living room. Giles had brought out some tea and cookies.  
Faith gave Willow and Xander small smiles as she sat on the couch.  
They both gave her smiles that seemed kinda forced. But Faith decided  
it was better than them charging her with knives, or guns or any weapon  
really.  
  
"How was your flight?" Buffy asked.  
  
"It was...long, but fine otherwise."  
  
The group sat uncomfortably for a minute.  
  
"So...where will you be staying Faith?" Giles asked.  
  
"Oh, um...the Council found a small house for us to rent on a temporary  
basis, it's a couple blocks from here. We're just gonna hit a hotel  
tonight and go out tomorrow to sign the lease and everything."  
  
Giles glanced at Kennedy for a moment.  
  
"So you and Clarke will be nearby."  
  
Faith caught the glance and smiled.  
  
"Yeah, actually we were hoping that Kenny could stay with us too,  
unless you...need to keep an eye on her. I just figured you could do  
without a teenager cramping your style."  
  
Kennedy glared at her and punched her. Faith smirked at the younger  
girl and hit her back.  
  
"No, I wouldn't ask you to take someone else in...its no trouble."  
  
Faith raised her eyebrows.  
  
"You sure G-man? We already kinda talked about it, I mean, I already  
have one teenager, one more won't hurt. It's up to you though, you're  
the boss."  
  
Faith grinned at her two travel buddies. Clarke stuck her tongue out  
at her and Kennedy shot her a playful glare.  
  
"No, I don't mind at all if the three of you want to stay together."  
  
"Cool."  
  
As the two 'watchers' talked about some other mundane details, Clarke  
noticed Buffy watching Faith intently. She yawned and leaned back into  
the couch and squeezed in a bit closer to Faith. She nonchalantly  
rested her head on Faith's shoulder and sighed. She watched from the  
corner of her eye as Buffy glared at the blonde for a moment before  
returning her attention to Giles. Kennedy watched the exchange and bit  
back a smirk.  
  
Giles shifted his attention to Kennedy and the two began talking about  
her extended stay. Faith placed a hand on Clarke's knee and used it to  
hoist herself off the couch. She pulled the blonde up after her and  
the two slipped outside for a smoke.  
  
"Boy, that was really slick Clarke...nice moves." Faith teased as she  
fished in her pocket for a cigarette. Clarke smirked and slapped the  
older slayer playfully on the arm.  
  
"Shut up, I certainly got the evil eye from Buffy, she's kinda scary."  
  
Faith stuck two cigarettes in her mouth and lit them both. She grabbed  
one and handed it to the blonde.  
  
"Yeah well, power trips to that to ya."  
  
Inside, Buffy was frowning slightly as she watched the two girls walk  
outside.  
  
_Don't they seem comfy together.  
  
So?  
  
It kinda stings doesn't it?  
  
No, it doesn't  
  
Yup, that could have been you and Faith, but you had to play the bitch.  
  
Shut up, I didn't play the bitch, I played the responsible slayer. She  
played the reckless slayer.  
  
Tight-ass.  
  
Will you leave me alone?  
  
That Clarke is a cute girl; I'll bet she turns Faith to mush when she  
flashes those dimples.  
  
Well, dimples are cute.  
  
Faith has cute dimples.  
  
Shut up, shut up, shut up. Dammit, can't even win an argument with  
myself.  
_  
"Buffy?"  
  
Buffy was snapped out of her argument with her brain by Willow who  
looked concerned.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah, it's just been a rough couple of days."  
  
Willow nodded sympathetically.  
  
"Faith seems different, don't you think? She isn't quite as...well she  
certainly didn't make a flamboyant entrance this time..."  
  
Buffy smiled.  
  
"Ya got that right."  
  
"Clarke and Kennedy seem cool, don't ya think?"  
  
Buffy nodded absentmindedly as her gaze lifted when the two girls  
reappeared from outside. Buffy felt a pang of something that she  
couldn't describe as she watched Faith and Clarke tease each other as  
they came back inside.  
  
"Hey G man, I think we need to hit the road, we had a wicked long  
flight and I think jet lag is kicking in."  
  
Giles smiled and nodded.  
  
"Alright, so we can meet up here in the afternoon after you get your  
living situation settled?"  
  
"Sure thing, I'll call ya when we're done to give ya a heads up. See  
you guys later"  
  
Faith smiled at the group as they called out goodbyes to the three  
girls. Giles nodded again and walked the girls to the door. Buffy  
followed them out to walk them to the car. Faith handed Clarke the  
keys as she yawned.  
  
"Here C, you get to drive this time, I'm beat."  
  
"Aw, come on Faith, I don't wanna drive."  
  
Faith rolled her eyes.  
  
"Hey, I drove to the airport and here from the airport, it's your  
turn."  
  
Clarke pulled out the pout. Faith saw it and raised her eyebrows  
pointing a finger at the younger blonde.  
  
"Don't you start that crap. No pouting."  
  
Clarke grinned.  
  
"But you can't resist the pout." She said playfully.  
  
"I can resist just about anything right now I'm so damn tired. You're  
driving."  
  
"Fine."  
  
The four girls reached the car and Faith turned to Buffy as the other  
two hopped in the front seats.  
  
"So, I'll see ya tomorrow B?"  
  
"Yeah, see you guys tomorrow."  
  
"Bye Buffy, it was nice to finally meet you."  
  
"Yeah, see ya later Buffy."  
  
Buffy smiled at the two girls.  
  
"See ya B."  
  
The two exchanged a small smile and Faith turned to the jeep.  
  
"Bye."  
  
Buffy smiled sadly as Faith sprung herself into the backseat using the  
tire for leverage. Clarke started the jeep and cranked the music.  
Buffy could hear them singing over the music as they pulled off as she  
slowly turned and headed back inside. Frowning.  
  
_They seem so comfortable around each other. Dammit, why couldn't we  
have been like that? We're both slayers and we have the slayer bond.  
I should be the one driving around with her in a stupid red jeep. We  
should be the ones singing and being silly and stuff. Stupid bottle-  
blonde. 'Oh, look at me with my cute dimples and great body, and my  
stupid bottled hair.' Bitter much? No. Jealous much? Dammit. __Fine, have fun __with your new blonde slayer friend. Don't need you anyways. I am such a whiny  
bitch. Dammit Faith.  
_  
Buffy walked through the door and flopped down on the couch next to  
Xander.  
  
"I don't like her."  
  
"Who Buffy?"  
  
"The blonde."  
  
"Ooh, I did." Anya glared at Xander and punched him. "Okay, ow. I  
just think she's...spunky." He grinned.  
  
Anya stood up and grabbed Xander by the front of the shirt and dragged  
him to his feet.  
  
"You want spunky? I'll give ya spunky, let's go, time for the sex."  
  
Xander shrugged as he smiled to his friends. The three girls smiled as  
he called out good-byes while being dragged out the door. Buffy,  
Willow and Tara decided to go and left after saying their own standing  
still goodbyes to Giles. Buffy was pouting as they walked back to  
campus. Willow and Tara exchanged a glance.  
  
"Buffy? What's up?" Willow asked tentatively.  
  
"Stupid blonde. She thinks she's so cool and so cute. She's a bottle  
blonde, I can tell."  
  
Willow's brow furrowed for a second.  
  
"Did she say something to you or something? She seemed sweet to me."  
Willow asked.  
  
"No...did you see the way she cuddled up next to Faith on the couch?"  
  
"So you suddenly hate her for resting her head on Faith's shoulder?"  
Tara raised her eyebrows.  
  
"Ugh, never mind, it's fine, I'm just being stupid. It's just been a  
long day. A long couple of days actually."  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"Yeah, it's cool."  
  
Willow smiled briefly and began babbling away to Tara. Buffy walked  
silently thinking about Faith and Clarke. She couldn't figure out why  
it was bugging her so much. Buffy watched as Tara and Willow said  
goodbye and exchanged a small kiss. Tara waved and smiled at the two  
as she headed off to her dorm. Willow watched her for a moment before  
turning her attention back to Buffy. The redhead looped an arm through  
Buffy's as they walked towards their room.  
  
"Are you sure you're okay?"  
  
Buffy sighed and pouted slightly.  
  
"Yeah...okay this may sound weird, but do you think they're together?"  
  
Willow raised her eyebrows.  
  
"Faith and Clarke?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I...honestly don't know Buffy, maybe? They seemed pretty close. Does  
it bother you?"  
  
Buffy's eyebrows shot up as she opened her mouth and made a few sounds  
and she shut it again. She absently chewed on her lip for a moment.  
  
"I don't know...I just feel like it should be me who has all the fun  
stuff with Faith...we should be the ones laughing and teasing each  
other."  
  
"So you're saying that you want to be Faith's only friend?"  
  
"No...I don't know, I'm just being childish and stupid. I don't  
understand how she always manages to do this to me. I always get to  
confused about everything when she's around."  
  
Willow thought for a few seconds.  
  
"Buffy, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they were together. I think her  
time in Boston has been good for her. Faith seems different. I know  
we only saw her for a few minutes, but she seems more grounded. Right?  
Maybe it was just me."  
  
Buffy shook her head.  
  
"No, I know what you mean. Her whole vibe is so different. Before,  
she would walk into a room and her presence was palpable, now...it's  
different. It's like we're seeing her, not her tough girl image."  
  
"I know what you mean. It's obvious that she's changed; we'll just  
have to see. I was certainly surprised at her attitude tonight, or  
lack thereof. It makes me less anxious about her being around though."  
  
Buffy nodded.  
  
"I still don't like 'little miss bottle blonde' though." Buffy pouted  
slightly and Willow just smiled. The two girls made it back to their  
room and started talking about random stuff and eventually Willow fell  
asleep, leaving Buffy to her thoughts.  
  
_Wow, she looked good tonight. Who am I kidding, she always looked  
good. I wonder if the Scoobs ever knew I had a thing for Faith. I  
tried to clue them in a few times. They just ignored it the time they  
were babbling about my new 'honey' at the Bronze and I made it sound  
like I had a date. Then she came in looking sooo good and I threw my  
arm around her shoulders and told my friends 'really, we're just good  
friends'. That was the night that our new Olympic category was  
created. The slayer bond was at an all time high that night. Then  
there was that other night at the Bronze...the night...I almost gave in to  
my feelings that night. But of course Captain Broody came in and  
snapped me back to reality. Stupid Finch...stupid me, dammit, stupid all  
of us. We all screwed up. Faith was the only one who had to pay  
though. Well, I guess we all had a bit of Faith's anger directed at us  
at one point or another, so I guess everyone paid in their own way.  
Man, I have missed her. Well, the pre-scary her. It's good to have  
her back in town, and I'm gonna make sure she knows it.  
_  
Buffy smiled to herself and added a nod for good measure. She felt  
sleep tugging at her and eventually giving in as thoughts of the  
beautiful brunette danced madly in her head.  
  
As the three girls drove away from Giles's apartment, Faith sat in the  
middle of the backseat and draped her arms across the back of the seat.  
They had only been driving a few miles when Kennedy turned the music  
down.  
  
"So, that's her?"  
  
"That's B."  
  
"Aside from her giving me a few nasty looks, she seems pretty cool."  
  
"She has her moments."  
  
"Faith, I gotta say, you have great taste in girls. She's hot."  
  
"Yeah, Fai, she is totally hot."  
  
Faith smiled and rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yeah...too bad I'll never have her."  
  
The two girls in the front smirked.  
  
"I have to say that I think I saw her turn a bit green when Clarke  
snuggled up to you though."  
  
"Yeah, she was probably getting ready to puke...B is as straight as an  
arrow."  
  
"She was so not ready to puke...Willow and Tara are together." Clarke  
shot her a look in the mirror.  
  
"Yeah, I picked up on that, but she's probably used to them being all  
snuggly."  
  
"Fai, I'm telling you, she feels something."  
  
"I guess we'll see."  
  
The three rode in silence for a few more minutes.  
  
"Willow is kinda cute."  
  
Faith and Clarke each rolled their eyes and smiled at the brunette.  
  
Once they reached the hotel, they were all kinds of wired. They ended  
up getting two adjoining rooms. They left the door between the rooms  
open and got settled. Faith was digging through her bag and grinned as  
she found what she was searching for. She pulled out a bottle of Jack  
Daniels and a bottle of vodka; she dug a bit further and found her  
cards. She grabbed the deck of cards and the alcohol and brought it  
into the girls' room. They ordered a ton of food and started drinking  
and playing poker.  
  
A few hours later, Faith returned to her room and closed the door all  
but a crack. She flipped on some cartoons and flopped onto the bed. A  
few minutes later she was sound asleep.

Faith could hear the faint sounds of the cartoons on when she rolled  
over the next morning. She groaned slightly and rubbed her eyes. Her  
slayer hearing wasn't picking anything up from the next room, so she  
stayed in bed a few minutes longer, relaxing and stretching. After she  
took her shower, she made her way into the next room. Kennedy was  
draped in a towel and had her bag on the bed, digging through it to  
find clothes. Faith could hear the shower running.  
  
"You guys gonna be ready in like a half hour?"  
  
"Yeah, as long as Clarke doesn't take all day in the shower, she's been  
in there forever."  
  
"She has a tendency to do that. Has she started her singing yet?"  
  
Kennedy gave her a weird look.  
  
"No, not yet."  
  
"Then she'll be in there at least another ten minutes. She always  
starts singing at the end of her shower and won't shut up until she's  
out of the bathroom."  
  
"She's not a bad singer."  
  
Faith rolled her eyes.  
  
"No, but she does this whole Phantom of the Opera thing, she's seen it  
like a hundred times and she'll go into all the characters and  
everything, singing and doing all the lines. I'm beginning to memorize  
it myself...it is very annoying."  
  
Kennedy just laughed and turned back to her stuff.  
  
"I was thinking about getting coffee downstairs, but there's a better  
place down the street, I figured we could hit it on the way to the  
house."  
  
"Yes...I need coffee now. Damn jet lag."  
  
"Know what ya mean."  
  
Faith returned to her room and began packing her stuff. Once Clarke  
was ready they hauled their stuff out to the jeep and headed for the  
house. Faith had spoken to Evan about where they were going to live  
and he found a place that was about halfway between Giles's house and  
UC Sunnydale. They pulled into the driveway and grabbed their stuff.  
An older dark haired man was waiting for them on the porch. Faith  
signed all the appropriate paperwork and soon after, the man left. The  
house had a very rustic feel to it; it was one of the older houses in  
Sunnydale. It had a huge basement and backyard. But, if you came in  
the front door, you would go through a hallway with a room off of it to  
the left. It was set up as an office. Once down the hall there was a  
large living room. Off the living room to the left was a spare room,  
with a bathroom, that they could use for storage and weapons. To the  
right off the living room was a dining room and straight ahead was a  
large kitchen. The house was designed so you had to go through the  
kitchen to get upstairs. There were three large bedrooms upstairs with  
two bathrooms. Faith called the master bedroom with it's own bathroom  
and the other two settled their stuff in the other rooms. Faith  
appreciated the fact that the house, despite being old, still had  
fairly modern furnishings.  
  
"Hey guys, let's just drop our stuff and get outta here, I want to grab  
something to eat and head over to Giles's and get the lowdown. Also,  
grab a change of clothes, Giles is probably gonna want to get the  
rundown on where we all are for training purposes." Faith called as  
she walked back downstairs.  
  
"Okay, one second." Kennedy called back.  
  
"No problem." Clarke said.  
  
Faith walked into the kitchen and checked the fridge and the cupboards  
and found them empty.  
  
"Dammit, we have to go grocery shopping, I hate grocery shopping."  
  
Faith stuck her tongue out at the empty cabinets and headed out the  
door as the two girls made it back downstairs. They climbed back in  
the jeep and headed for a diner along the way. Once they had placed  
their orders Faith lit a cigarette and tossed the pack to Clarke.  
  
"Hey Fai?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Do you think it would be at all possible for us to go to a hockey game  
while we're here? It's looking like Boston and L.A. are going to meet  
in the finals and I would love to catch a game down there."  
  
"I don't know honestly. You'll have to ask Giles and clear it with  
him. He's probably gonna have us training by day and patrolling by  
night."  
  
"Right, but he's not a slave driver is he?"  
  
"No, but you'll have to clear it with him. I'm up for it if he says  
it's cool."  
  
"Okay, that's of course if they actually do meet in the finals. I was  
a season ticket holder, so I can get us killer seats before they go on  
sale to the public."  
  
Faith nodded and listened half-heartedly as the two girls babbled about  
hockey and a bunch of other stuff. She smirked as Kennedy got all  
googly-eyed listening to Clarke talk about her experiences playing.  
  
After eating, Faith grabbed her cell and called Giles to tell him they  
were on the way. He told her Buffy was there with him. They pulled up  
at his place and hopped out of the jeep and made their way down to the  
door. Buffy answered a bit too quickly and ushered them inside.  
  
They exchanged hellos and settled in on the couch. Giles began  
cleaning his glasses.  
  
"Faith, will you be needing to work while you're here?"  
  
Faith shook her head.  
  
"No, Council is paying for the whole ride. 'Official business'...they're  
pickin' up the tab. No need for a job."  
  
"Right then. Obviously we need to get you and Clarke battle ready. As  
you know, Faith you can't kill the demon, but you will have to fight  
it. We have about three weeks to make sure you are back to full  
strength. Have you been training at all?"  
  
"Yeah, me and C have a weekly routine, I'm probably not in the shape I  
was before, but Boston isn't quite as hoppin' as Sunnydale is...in the  
evil department at least."  
  
Giles nodded.  
  
"Right...well we can work out a training schedule that we can all work  
around. Buffy is obviously in classes during the day, but she will  
help with patrolling at night, just as a back up. You two need all the  
practice and training you can get." The two girls nodded in agreement.  
"I was also hoping Kennedy would join you obviously in the training  
but with patrol as well."  
  
Kennedy grinned and Buffy noticed a familiar twinkle in her eye. The  
group worked out a training schedule and they also started putting  
together a plan to defeat Adam. Buffy was relieved that they would  
have some extra firepower to defeat him. Giles had the three girls  
spar for a while to see where they were and he and Buffy took notes on  
weaknesses and strengths. Buffy noticed Faith fought less carelessly  
than she did before. Faith had always been at full throttle when she  
fought, she always left herself wide open. Buffy figured that's why  
they were always so evenly matched. Her own style of fighting was very  
guarded and defensive. Polar opposites. She noticed that Clarke  
seemed to be somewhere in between. She was patient, she waited for  
Faith to make a mistake and she pounced. She also kicked it into high  
gear when you least expected it. Buffy was rather impressed with both  
girls. She and Giles made a few minor notes and were both very upbeat  
that these battles with the demon and Adam would be much easier than  
originally expected. After the sparring session they made plans to  
patrol that night. Buffy told them that things had been kinda slow  
with Adam hanging around. The three girls gathered their things and  
got ready to leave. Faith turned back once she reached the door.  
  
"Hey B, we were gonna hit the Bronze tonight if patrol is light if ya  
wanna come along."  
  
Buffy smiled.  
  
"Is it cool if the rest of the Scoobies come too?"  
  
"Yeah, of course."  
  
"Okay. It's a date."  
  
Faith gave her a confused look, but it quickly disappeared into a small  
smile.  
  
"So, ya wanna swing by our place before patrol, it's close to Shady  
Acres."  
  
"Sure, I'll see you guys later."  
  
"See ya B."  
  
The girls smiled and said goodbye and headed home. On the way back  
they hit the grocery store and piled the jeep full.  
  
A few hours later Faith answered the door and found Buffy on the other  
side.  
  
"Come on in B."  
  
Buffy smiled as Faith took her on a mini tour.  
  
_Thank God she doesn't have to stay in that awful dump like last time.  
It's about time the Council took better care of its slayers_.  
  
The girls had a fairly uneventful patrol and managed to get to the  
Bronze fairly early. They parked the jeep and made their way inside.  
  
"I'm warning you C, this place is nothing like the clubs we have in  
Bean Town."  
  
"Fai, I kinda figured that...don't worry, as long as we can dance, I'm  
good. I still have a bit too much energy."  
  
Faith grinned thinking back to the H&H conversation they had after a  
busy night patrolling in Boston.  
  
"I think I know someone who might be able to help you out in that  
department."  
  
Clarke grinned as she looked at the girl walking ahead of them with  
Buffy.  
  
"She is cute."  
  
"Damn right she is, she's into you too."  
  
"Ya think?"  
  
Faith rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yes, I think. She gets all goofy every time you do that smile thing  
that you do."  
  
"What smile thing?"  
  
"That little flirty smile thing. The one that had me that first night  
at Roxy. You know what I'm talking about."  
  
Clarke smiled.  
  
"I'll just have to turn it up a notch."  
  
Faith suddenly smiled deviously.  
  
"Well...we could always go for making them both a little green."  
  
Clarke gave Faith a similar smile.  
  
"Now that's an idea."  
  
The four girls walked in the door and immediately spotted the rest of  
the Scoobies. Faith and Clarke got drink orders from Buffy and Kennedy  
and headed for the bar. Once they had their drinks in hand, the two  
younger slayers made their way back to the table and greeted everyone.  
Faith slid drinks to Buffy and Kennedy and grabbed Clarke and headed  
for the dance floor. Buffy watched as Faith led the younger blonde  
away and kept her eyes on both of them as they began to dance. 

The two girls fell into the pulsating rhythms quickly and danced a bit closer  
than they were used to. Faith caught sight of Buffy staring at them  
and almost felt guilty when she saw the pout. She shook it off and  
took a rather large drink of her beer. She smiled at the blonde  
dancing with her and slung an arm over her shoulder. Clarke whipped  
out the dimples and pulled Faith in a bit closer. The two danced so  
close their foreheads would brush together occasionally. Buffy felt a  
pang in her stomach as she watched the two dance. She glanced around  
the table and found the rest of the group watching the girls dance as  
well. Willow and Tara looked slightly turned on. Xander's mouth was  
gaped open and was staring at them blatantly. She was taken aback  
slightly as she saw evident jealousy etched on Kennedy's features.  
Buffy thought to herself for a second and turned on her resolve face.  
She wasn't about to be outdone. In an act that surprised everyone,  
including her, she reached out and grabbed Kennedy and pulled her out  
to the dance floor. The three remaining Scoobies exchanged glances and  
Willow looked to Tara knowingly. Buffy gave Kennedy a look that was  
instantly recognized and the two began to dance almost as close as  
Faith and Clarke. Buffy glanced over Kennedy's shoulder and saw Faith  
watching them. Clarke noticed the look on Faith's face and turned to  
see what had the dark slayer so captivated. She raised her eyebrows  
when she saw Buffy and Kennedy dancing together. She laughed slightly  
and looked back to Faith.  
  
"I think we're busted."  
  
"Don't worry, this is one game that would be pretty impossible for us  
to lose. B doesn't have the balls to take it that far."  
  
Clarke laughed again and continued dancing. The two couples began to  
slowly inch closer together until they were side by side. Faith was  
dancing next to Kennedy and Clarke was next to Buffy. Clarke shuddered  
slightly at the charge in the air caused by the four girls. Faith  
watched Buffy dance with her eyes closed. A thin layer of sweat was  
coating her forehead and her chest that was exposed above the neckline  
of the halter-top she was wearing. Faith absentmindedly licked her  
lips as she watched the blonde dance. Slowly the girls backed away  
from their partners and they found themselves dancing in a small  
circle. Buffy and Faith locked gazes and everything from that night  
came back. Buffy watched as the memory of their night, in almost that  
very spot, came back to her. A tiny smile tugged at the blonde's lips  
as Faith closed her eyes and shuddered. Before she even knew what she  
was doing she reached out and grabbed the brunette's hand and tugged  
her closer. Both Kennedy and Clarke grinned as they watched the Chosen  
Two dance. Kennedy returned her gaze to the blonde in front of her and  
gave her an expectant look as she let her eyes wander the length of the  
girl. Clarke raised her eyebrows and grinned as the two of them began  
to dance a bit closer. Buffy and Faith danced closer this time than  
they ever did back then and the slayer bond allowed them completely  
synchronized rhythm. They were interrupted after a few hours as the  
rest of the gang said goodnight. Willow gave Buffy a small sly smile  
before hugging her.  
  
"Don't let her go this time Buffy." The redhead whispered into her ear  
before pulling back and smiling again. Buffy gave her a grateful smile  
as they walked away. Buffy turned her attention back to Faith as they  
danced until the club closed. Buffy and Faith both smiled at the two  
younger girls who walked out holding hands as they headed for the jeep.  
  
"I can't believe I'm still so wired after dancing that much." Faith  
said to Buffy as they walked along.  
  
"Tell me about it, I'm not even close to tired."  
  
"Ya wanna come hang out for a while, I know those two are just as  
jacked up as we are. We can play some cards or something."  
  
Buffy mused the proposition for a moment before smiling broadly.  
  
"Yeah, that sounds like fun."  
  
"Cool."  
  
Clarke turned suddenly and noticed Faith weaving slightly.  
  
"Fai, ya want me to drive? I think you've had a bit too much to  
drink."  
  
"I think that would be a good idea. I think I'm wavering a bit."  
  
Clarke smiled and grabbed the keys that Faith held out for her. Buffy  
and Faith hopped into the backseat as the other two jumped in the  
front. Faith absently draped her right arm over the back of the seat  
as she rubbed her eyes with her other hand. Clarke saw the hint of a  
smile from Buffy in the rear-view mirror. The blonde up front flipped  
through the tracks on the CD and gave Faith a look as the music came  
thundering out of the speakers. Faith closed her eyes for a moment as  
what seemed to be her theme song engulfed her. Buffy caught the silent  
exchange and began to listen to the lyrics that Faith was singing along  
to.  
  
_When this began  
I had nothing to say  
And I'd get lost in the nothingness inside of me  
I was confused  
And I'd let it all out to find  
That I'm not the only person with these things in mind  
Inside of me  
When all the vacancy the words revealed  
Is the only real thing that I've got left to feel  
Nothing to lose  
Just stuck, hollow and alone  
And the fault is my own and the fault is my own  
_  
Clarke locked gazes with Faith for a second at the words she knew were  
coming. She saw Buffy pick up on the look and the blonde continued to  
watch Faith out of the corner of her eye.  
  
_I wanna heal  
I wanna feel  
What I thought was never real  
I want to let go of the pain I felt so long  
Erase all the pain til its gone  
I wanna heal  
I wanna feel  
Like I'm close to something real  
I want to find something I've wanted all along  
Somewhere I belong  
_  
Buffy almost shivered as she listened to the words and could tell by  
the look on Faith's face that she felt the meaning of them.  
  
_And I've got nothing to say  
I can't believe I didn't fall right down on my face  
I was confused  
Looking everywhere only to find  
That it's not the way I had imagined it all in my mind  
So what am I  
What do I have but negativity  
Cause I cant justify the way everyone is looking at me  
Nothing to lose  
Nothing to gain, hollow and alone  
And the fault is my own and the fault is my own_  
  
Clarke smiled as she watched Faith turn slightly towards Buffy and the  
two's eyes met for a moment as Faith continued to sing the words of the  
song that she not only knew, but she felt.  
  
_I wanna heal  
I wanna feel  
What I thought was never real  
I want to let go of the pain I felt so long  
Erase all the pain til its gone  
I wanna heal  
I wanna feel  
Like I'm close to something real  
I want to find something I've wanted all along  
Somewhere I belong  
_  
Faith smiled as she prepared to belt out the next verse and she shared  
a grin with the blonde in the front because every time they sang this  
song, they both reacted the same way to the verse that was about to be  
sang.  
  
_I will never know  
Myself until I do this on my own  
And I will never feel  
Anything else, until my wounds are healed  
I will never be anything  
till I break away from me  
I will break away  
I'll find myself today  
  
I wanna heal  
I wanna feel  
What I thought was never real  
I want to let go of the pain I felt so long  
Erase all the pain till it's gone  
I wanna heal  
I wanna feel  
Like I'm close to something real  
I want to find something I've wanted all along  
Somewhere I belong  
  
I wanna heal  
I wanna feel  
I wanna feel like I'm somewhere I belong  
  
I wanna heal  
I wanna feel  
I wanna feel like I'm somewhere I belong  
  
Somewhere I belong  
  
_Buffy smiled at Faith, understating that Faith was talking to her  
without saying a word. Clarke began flipping through the songs again  
and glanced back to Faith as the music started.  
  
_It's easier to run  
Replacing this pain with something more  
It's so much easier to go  
Than face all this pain here all alone  
  
Something has been taken from deep inside of me  
The secret I've kept locked away no one can ever see  
Wounds so deep they never show they never go away  
Like moving pictures in my head for years and years they've played  
  
_Buffy almost felt like crying as she thought back to the way she  
treated Faith in the past. This song seemed to say it all. She  
watched as Faith turned and looked her in the eye as she sang the next  
part of the song.  
  
_(If I could change I would take back the pain I would)  
(Retrace every wrong move that I made I would)  
(If I could stand up and take the blame I would)  
(If I could take all the shame to the grave I would)  
(If I could change I would take back the pain I would)  
(Retrace every wrong move that I made I would)  
(If I could stand up and take the blame I would)  
(I would take all my shame to the grave)  
  
It's easier to run  
Replacing this pain with something numb  
It's so much easier to go  
Than face all this pain here all alone  
  
Sometimes I remember the darkness of my past  
Bringing back these memories I wish I didn't have  
Sometimes I think of letting go and never looking back  
And never moving forward so there'd never be a past  
  
(If I could change I would take back the pain I would)  
(Retrace every wrong move that I made I would)  
(If I could stand up and take the blame I would)  
(If I could take all the shame to the grave I would)  
(If I could change I would take back the pain I would)  
(Retrace every wrong move that I made I would)  
(If I could stand up and take the blame I would)  
(I would take all my shame to the grave)  
_  
Clarke watched as Faith closed her eyes and sang the words as Buffy  
watched her, almost entranced by the confessions the brunette made  
through the song.  
  
_Just washing it aside,  
All of my helplessness inside  
Pretending I don't feel misplaced  
It's so much simpler than shame  
  
It's easier to run  
Replacing this pain with something numb  
It's so much easier to go  
Than face all this pain here all alone  
  
It's easier to run  
(If I could change I would take back the pain I would)  
(Retrace every wrong move that I made)  
It's easier to go  
(If I could change I would take back the pain I would)  
(Retrace every wrong move that I made I would)  
(If I could stand up and take the blame I would)  
(I would take all my shame to the grave)  
_  
Kennedy turned the volume down significantly as they turned onto their  
street. The girls piled out of the jeep and headed inside. They shed  
their light jackets and headed for the kitchen. Faith grabbed four  
bottles of water from the fridge as Clarke and Kennedy rummaged through  
cabinets pulling out bags of snack food. The four sat around talking  
and playing card games. Kennedy grew bored of poker quickly and headed  
into the living room to watch a movie. After about an hour Faith  
scrunched her face up and sat back in her chair.  
  
"Ugh, I don't feel so good."  
  
The other two girls looked at her sympathetically.  
  
"Have you eaten anything today?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Yeah...it's nothing, I'm fine."  
  
"Fai, I hardly think you can call a bag of Doritos, eating."  
  
"Yeah, I'll call your Doritos and raise ya too many coffees and a  
couple of cokes."  
  
"Ya going for a caffeine and sugar overload?"  
  
"I just needed a little pick me up earlier."  
  
"Not been sleeping well?"  
  
Faith looked at Clarke who was obviously holding in a smirk at the  
heartfelt concern of the blonde slayer.  
  
"Get lost C."  
  
Clarke smiled sweetly at her, dimples and all.  
  
"But I don't wanna."  
  
Faith glared at her and the girl's smile just grew. Suddenly Faith  
smirked as she thought of something.  
  
"Hey Kenny!" Faith called to the girl in the living room.  
  
Kennedy came jogging in looking expectantly at Faith.  
  
"Kenny" Faith said pointing at her. "This is Clarke, the vampire  
slayer." She said pointing at the confused blonde. Faith was smiling  
sweetly at her slayer. Kennedy shot Faith a confused look.  
  
"Faith, I know-" She was cut short as Faith held up a hand to silence  
her. Faith smirked at the youngest slayer.  
  
"Clarke." Faith said pointing to the confused girl. "This is Kennedy,  
the potential slayer, ya might say she's next in line." Faith grinned  
at the two confused girls and turned to Buffy, who was looking at her  
like she'd gone a bit looney.  
  
"B, wanna see a neat trick? How would you like to see me turn Kenny  
into a slayer...right in front of your eyes, using only my bare hands."  
Faith grinned and held up her hands in front of her, wiggling her  
fingers.  
  
Clarke's eyes got wide and she stood gaping like a fish. She suddenly  
smiled sheepishly.  
  
"We're gonna go...away now...you guys have fun."  
  
The two older slayers watched, grinning as Clarke hurried out of the  
kitchen, tugging Kennedy along behind her. Buffy shook her head and  
turned back to Faith. Her face grew a bit more concerned as she took  
in the tired look of the younger girl.  
  
"So you haven't been sleeping well?"  
  
Faith shrugged and dropped her gaze to her hands.  
  
"Nah...it's just...sometimes...I feel like I'm dreaming...and I'm afraid when I  
wake up...I'll...be back in the hospital...guess it's really the...waking up  
part that has me."  
  
Buffy's face fell. She began playing with her fingernails.  
  
"Faith...I had to."  
  
"I know B...I was way outta control. Turn the tables and I woulda done  
the same. Don't worry about it."  
  
Buffy opened her mouth to say something, but closed it suddenly. She  
chewed absently on her bottom lip for a moment.  
  
"Why Faith?"  
  
Faith thought for a moment and sighed.  
  
"Look, I know I can't enter a plea of temporary insanity...I wasn't  
crazy...I was scared. I didn't know what to do..."  
  
"Why didn't you let us help you?"  
  
"Yeah...I've been so good at that in the past. Look at the history,  
remember Kakistos? I tried to keep that my problem and it blew up and  
you ended up getting involved in it. I didn't want to put you in any  
danger. It was the same thing. I killed him B. Not you. I didn't  
know how to take responsibility for anything. I screwed up big time  
and I really can't justify anything I did. I was totally lost. I  
didn't think that I had to take responsibility as a slayer. Anyways, I  
went to Wilkins and he didn't care what I had done, seeing as how he  
was evil, but he didn't treat me like I was a bad person. He treated  
me like a daughter. After seeing the way Giles looked at you...I never  
had that...and it felt good. Again with the evil, but it felt  
unconditional. I just let the darkness consume me and I knew I could  
never go back to you, so I figured I should at least go out with a  
bang. I wanted you to kill me...but that didn't mean I wasn't going out  
without a fight."  
  
Faith returned her gaze to Buffy who was visibly upset.  
  
"That's not even funny Faith."  
  
Faith's expression turned confused.  
  
"I wasn't being funny B, I was being serious."  
  
"Faith I...you know that I couldn't have killed you. I never would've  
killed you. I didn't even mean to hurt you...things just got out of  
hand. I guess Clarke is living proof that I did kill you though."  
  
Buffy almost felt like crying.  
  
"You were just doing what you had to do B. You needed slayer blood for  
Angel."  
  
"I just feel bad about the way I handled everything back then."  
  
"So do I, and all I really want is a chance to make things right again.  
We both made mistakes and we both feel bad, but I want to do it right  
this time...if you'll let me."  
  
"I definitely want us to make things right again...I don't know if the  
rest of the gang will jump right on board, but eventually they will."  
  
"Well, the most important thing to me is making sure you and me are  
good. I can deal if it takes longer with them."  
  
Buffy sat and thought for a few minutes as Faith lit a cigarette. The  
brunette grabbed the ashtray and sat across from Buffy at the table.  
She deposited the ashtray, her smokes and a lighter on the table as she  
sat down. Buffy suddenly reached out and grabbed a cigarette. Faith  
raised her eyebrows at the blonde as she took a drag and coughed a bit.  
Faith couldn't help but laugh at the attempt.  
  
"Since when do you smoke B?"  
  
"Since now."  
  
Buffy locked her gaze with Faith, challenging her to say anything about  
it. Faith just raised her eyebrows again and chuckled.  
  
"Hey, what you do is up to you girlfriend."  
  
"I just feel like I don't have to be...I don't know...everything when I'm  
around you. I feel like you don't have these huge expectations of me."  
  
Faith snorted slightly.  
  
"That's because I don't. You know that you can do pretty much anything  
around me and I won't judge you, because most likely, I've already done  
it. Although, you did it to me."  
  
"Did what?"  
  
"You judged me at first. You all did."  
  
"I know...I'm sorry. I was stupid and self-involved back then."  
  
"Just back then?" Faith smirked, daring her to say anything to the  
contrary. Buffy smiled and rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yeah yeah. I am sorry though."  
  
"Nah, it's cool B. But know that you can just be, around me. You can  
do whatever you want. I don't have any expectations as far as what you  
do, I may get a surprise now and then, but I'm not going to think  
you're a bad person."  
  
Buffy gave Faith a genuine smile and suddenly got a bit woozy. She  
shook her head briefly and giggled.  
  
"Mmm, I feel funny."  
  
Faith laughed at her.  
  
"Yeah, the first time you smoke, you get a bit of a buzz. It'll pass."  
  
Faith slid out of her chair and went to the fridge. She pulled out a  
beer and turned back to Buffy.  
  
"Ya want a beer B?"  
  
Buffy thought back to her alcohol induced Neanderthalism and was about  
to say no. Suddenly she realized that Faith wouldn't let anything bad  
happen to her so she nodded.  
  
"Sure."  
  
Faith grabbed a second bottle out of the fridge and set them both on  
the counter. She rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a bottle  
opener and popped the tops quickly. She slid the bottle across the  
table to Buffy and sat back down.  
  
"So what's the deal B, you seeing anybody these days?"  
  
Buffy felt a wave of sadness rush over her as thoughts of Riley filled  
her head.  
  
"I was...but he kinda died last week."  
  
Fait raised her eyebrows but her expression soon turned to concern as  
she watched the blonde's expression turn sad.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Adam killed him."  
  
Faith's brow furrowed for a second before she put on her badass face.  
  
"Don't worry, tomorrow night, we'll get Adam back. That son of a bitch  
doesn't even know what's coming."  
  
Buffy looked up at Faith with a hopeful expression on her face.  
  
"Do you really think we can beat him?"  
  
Faith grinned in anticipation of the fight that would have the two of  
them playing on the same side again.  
  
"Yeah, I have no doubt, I mean G and Red have that spell that's gonna  
get you all wicked wired up right? You go in and take out the big guy  
and I have your back just in case he has any surprises for us."  
  
Buffy nodded and soon found her grin matching the one Faith had  
plastered on her features.  
  
"God Faith, I have missed you...I've missed this. It's like its so  
different now, but it's so familiar."  
  
"I know what you mean B."  
  
The Chosen Two shared a smile. They found their way into easy  
conversation and talked and drank for hours that night. By the time  
they were ready for sleep, Buffy was a little too drunk.  
  
"B, I think you should stay here tonight, you're a bit toasty."  
  
Buffy gave her a languid smile.  
  
"Okay Faithy, but I don't have anything to sleep in." Buffy gazed down  
at her clothes and tugged on the bottom of her top as if trying to  
emphasize her point.  
  
Faith rolled her eyes at the nickname and held her hand out to Buffy  
who took it and followed the brunette upstairs. Faith grinned wickedly  
as she noticed Clarke's door wide open and her bed empty. Kennedy's  
door was closed however and Faith knew that both girls had gone to bed.  
Faith pulled Buffy into her room and grabbed clothes for her to sleep  
in. Buffy changed in the room while Faith washed her face and brushed  
her teeth. She found Buffy sitting on the edge of the bed when she  
returned.  
  
"I need a blanket for the couch."  
  
Faith rolled her eyes and smiled slightly.  
  
"B, don't be a dork, the bed is huge and I don't bite, you can sleep in  
here with me."  
  
Buffy smiled widely.  
  
"Okay."  
  
Faith watched amusedly as Buffy rolled backwards on the bed and  
burrowed herself under the covers. Buffy sighed loudly and contently  
as Faith hit the lights and crawled into bed.  
  
"Night Faithy."  
  
Faith rolled her eyes again.  
  
"Night B."

Hope this didn't disappoint, please leave some feedback, I will get to the updating as quick as I can.


End file.
